Commander's Rejuvenation Adventures (A Rejuv Not Cancelled Run) [Chapter 62]

[RedAlert]

Well, that was certainly something.

 

Thanks for redoing this. Since I didn't get to see the very beginning of the game in V11, this is an excellent way to get to speed on the early changes. Although the it seemed a little presumptuous to me, I had the same thought as I went along the changes because most of the grievances I had mentioned had been touched on and it seems a lot like Jan was taking feedback from it and applying that extra layer of polish that made the game make more sense. It also looks more clean now and I am certain that in later releases, there will be a lot like to come. That being said, constantly redoing the game in this manner is likely to throw off old players as relevant plot points are missed out. We have to play again or check out playthroughs like yours for these changes to be noted down.

 

I have to contradict myself again though - I get that from the perspective of the devs, it's only natural that they retouch certain things and improve things we didn't like. They are making an effort so huge thumbs up for that.

 

Also I don't think anyone really cares that you're using "illegal" mons when they've seen you do all of the major battles already so they know what commander is capable of. (Assuming it's the same commander we're talking about)

 

As for what you want the audience to see, that's really up to you because you're the entertainer and you're the one in charge of giving us a good show. My suggestion would be to include main story battles + really special battles that you enjoyed.

[Commander]

On 1/11/2019 at 8:21 PM, RedAlert said:

Thanks for redoing this. Since I didn't get to see the very beginning of the game in V11, this is an excellent way to get to speed on the early changes. Although the it seemed a little presumptuous to me, I had the same thought as I went along the changes because most of the grievances I had mentioned had been touched on and it seems a lot like Jan was taking feedback from it and applying that extra layer of polish that made the game make more sense. It also looks more clean now and I am certain that in later releases, there will be a lot like to come. That being said, constantly redoing the game in this manner is likely to throw off old players as relevant plot points are missed out. We have to play again or check out playthroughs like yours for these changes to be noted down.

Gonna just drop in and say that there was quite a bit added, but not much was missed if you don't redo the older parts of the game. I'm really indifferent to changing stuff as time goes on because it takes time to redo maps (and quite a few places got completely redone. I...actually couldn't keep track of all the changes and I'm honestly more confused by it trying to figure out what got changed and what didn't and what dialogue got touched and what didn't. Most of them are obvious but it can be hard like at Blacksteeple to reread what you've read and figure out if there's a difference. There's 1.9k pics worth of differences (more like 1.5k) so yeah, I think Jan needs to lay off a bit with the changes XD.

 

------------------------------------------------------------

 

This...actually isn't a chapter but more of an update. I've caught back up to where I was in the run originally bar changing a few of my choices to see what they'd do. This is going to be a lot longer than I anticipated since there's 1.9k pics to go through which Blacksteeple was about that much. So yeah, that's a lot to cover. I'm just going to be going over my overrall thoughts on the rerun now and then doing chapters jumping into details. Let's just start off with the really, really bad which I didn't bother to even record battles for. Trust me, nothing is as bad as this or even close...not even Blacksteeple.

 

So a new sidequest added was the fights against the Johto leaders. It's a good idea...on paper. So basically you pick a starter and you have a set team you have to fight all the leaders with. That doesn't sound so bad, right? I picked Chikorita and I honestly just swallowed my pride and used items. This is a man who spent 3 hours creating Veigue giving up on a challenge like that. So Intense mode actually changed the teams to make them stronger and this stuff has apparently been tested. Yeah...the leaders are tough...like insanely tough once you get past Chuck. I was expecting a really good reward for draining my item supply (not like I needed it for anything else though) and guess what the reward is? 25 AP. That's it. Just 25 AP. No TM. No Cool Mon. No lore. Just 25 AP. I have never been pissed off on a game as much as that in a very, very long time. Normal mode is easier, but it kind of circles back to the same result just with less frustration.

 

Let me grind down my experience starting with Bugsy (which I used no items): I had to switch to Gastly and pray for a Hypnosis and a 2-3 turn sleep count. Then do the same to Ariados so I could get Bayleef in to finish it off and set up a reflect. Then I had to get flaafy in and thundershock scyther or t-wave and pray for at least one paralysis turn on top of praying the 20% crit chance doesn't happen. Whitney and Morty weren't terrible since I used items but Pryce was just...too much. Mamoswine one shots everything but Politoed and Espeon which Politoed 3 shots the thing...yeah, you can imagine why I wasted my revives on this fight. Every other fight in the game was cakewalk compared to dealing and figuring these out. And even then you may need to reset purely due to the field crit chance which team Chikorita has a lot of defensive maneuvers. By the time I hit Clair I was just done. I don't care what the reward is. It could be a Mewtwo and I wouldn't want to redo it. It's just frustration. Plain and simple and the reward was just icing on the cake. AP isn't a bad reward for something but AP gives QoL features which you can easily live without. It's not worth going out of your way just to shave off maybe an hour or two of playtime since you don't have to go back or drop moves on mons.

 

I like the idea, but I think it was taken into a bad step. So how would old Mander have approached this? First off, I would've said no to battles being that difficult and make them be the same throughout all 3 difficulties. I wouldn't want this to be difficult because Rejuv is already bloated with difficult battles already to the point I kind of would want something relaxing. I would say normal mode should work for this idea. Now the game is meant to be a DnD styled game where your choices matter. In the current version, your choice is made at the start of the game, but what if that isn't your only choice? Let's turn this into a full scale DnD adventure where you make choices where to go and what to do. Let's take the Falkner segment. Your first choice is the starter but then you have a choice of exploring Route 1, Route 2 (or whatever the north one...you get the idea), or skipping on ahead. Each of these choices would give you a different Pokemon to use against Falkner as Route 1 would give I dunno Pidgeotto, Route 2 would give Onix, and skipping a Mareep. These choices factor into what your final team will be. So when you face Clair, you'd have a team you personally created and not a set one made by someone else.

 

"But Mander, that's impossible to do" someone might say and...actually it's pretty simple. It'd just take quite a number of switches and probably best to make a script section for it to call upon. I could probably easily make it using the data from the custom made teams. It's keeping all the work they did, but toning down the fights so you can have a little nostalgic trip through Johto again. Maybe then people would want to start all over and try it out with a different team. As I said, I'm not mad about the 25 AP reward itself, but the fact that the reward isn't worth the frustration of this sidequest. Personally, I'd think I'd have a blast if it was reworked a bit like this.

 

***************************************

 

But...*ahem* let's get onto the main stuff. I'll start with battles. Intense mode is hard throughout the whole game so I guess it lives up to its name. Other than Crawli being a bit too similar to Keta, I'd say the doubles are nailed down flat. I haven't reached Amber (obviously) but every double battle kind of had a unique feel. Singles...not so much. With every battle being focused on being super hard, you kind of start getting a samey kind of feel to them. You either counter them and it's easy or it's just straight up hell like Ren and especially Geara. That second Geara fight gave me pure hell and probably would have been my biggest struggle if not for sacrificing my one and only Telluric Seed. Max powered nukers this early in the game is kind of a risky play. My best singles options were kind of in my original run so...RIP. I kind of did get a bit bored with singles since it kind of relied using the same strat every one of those fights. The Madelis fights were actually some of my favorite in the game now. Though I do think this game suffers a bit of "too many bosses" now as the Sharpedo is now a boss even.

 

As for other biggest struggles, I had a really, really hard time against an AA grunt's Porygon-Z. I had plenty of random wipes from trainers such as the one with 3 luxray on water surface. Sometimes I think those go a bit too far like the focus sash random trainer in Goldenwood Cave. And every time I see a stall mon on a random trainer it makes me cry blood as I rotate my team out as there's no point in keeping someone at cap when someone else could be using that experience. I have a love hate with the random trainers in this game. I'm probably going to keep intense on unless things get absolutely brutal then I can just jump back down. Intense is weird as hard battles like the Conk battle become a joke and easy battles like Novae become my bane. That last Novae battle I had a clutch win kind of bad. Even if I drop to normal mode, the set no items rule is continuing. No items really can change the rules of the game since you can't exploit healing both for you and the opponent and priority means so much more.

 

As for story and map changes, it's honestly been pretty nice overall with my only gripes being it's a pain to hatch eggs and make babbies in Sheridan due to the layout and Taelia Resort is uhhh kind of hard to navigate around. It looks nice though. The spritework looks really, really good and you can really see the overhaul effect. Only thing is that new Aelita looks a tad bit tiny as an opponent. Maybe that's just me though. The mon lineup and TM selection is freaking fantastic. Getting T-wave and Brick Break this early does wonders. T-wave is one of my go to skills and keeps mons like Liepard relevant. Seriously, I feel like older mons don't drop like flies compared to Reborn where you feel where the drop is. Lopunny is still relevant. If you breed a fake out lopunny, you will not regret it. *Ahem* But yes, it's been more or less good things. Oh yeah, I like the new Xen Executive battle theme.

 

I can really appreciate Jan taking criticism and this is the kind of the first time I'll say the effort kind of really paid off. So if whatever you're doing is how you make it successful then just keep on doing that I suppose. I would say Chapter 2 really, really rose from being one of my least favorites to being up there. Not there due to SEC though. I can't put a chapter with SEC in first place. I just can't. But I'm just going to say at the end of the day, enjoyment doesn't change that much. If you didn't like Rejuv before, you probably won't like it now. If you were avoiding it due to the offputting things told, I'd say try it since most of those are gone. Most. I don't think it's worth replaying though unless you haven't replayed since like V4 or I guess V6 even. A lot of cool things were added though.

 

Now let's talk about my squad since I don't think they'll be mentioned much even in the videos:

 

Main Squad:

 

Spoiler

 

Enter the amazing Leia! She's kind of my nuke since HJK one shots stuff. She's kind of on and off the team a lot as sometimes you'll see her and sometimes you won't.

 

Walter, you have been replaced. RNG blessed me with an even better Lycanroc who is faster than walter, but not quite as strong. The difference is very little so I might rotate both of them around just because Walter was the MVP in the original run.

 

Blanc kind of is the newbie and hasn't done much but...she did show her worth so she'll stick around but I'm considering dropping her now that I have the blizzard TM.

(Moves are Shadow Ball, Air Slash, Confuse Ray, Psychic)

 

One of those mons I never figured would be useful, but she's not the greatest but certainly has been holding her weight to stay on the main rotation for this long. She'll probably fall off soon, but goddamn has she been a trooper. It's a really fun mon I reccomend trying out.

(Enter the Drunk Erebonian)

 

It's kind of funny how Roselia was pulling his weight for 50 or so levels. I wanted Petal Dance as that's a good nuke skill. Not really the most useful mon on the team put he was super useful on Narcissa. He'll probably stay since Gaius is my only other grass option.

(Cuteness is justice!)

 

Anelace is uhh...kind of useful and sometimes a monster. Imagine slowly walking up to a Scizor and beating the living shit out of it. Very situational mon but I'm kind of glad that was my mystery egg mon...even if I wanted Larvitar more.

 

Despite people saying how "Good" he is on some fights...this thing really hasn't really don't that much for me. It usually just does chip damage, set up sand, then dies. Though he did get some lucky misses on Angie and that's the one and only time he really shined. He's been kind of meh otherwise, but a weather setter is a weather setter

(And the reward for most random mon is...)

 

So I have a habit of picking up and using an odd mon and since Delcatty isn't useful enough (it does get T-wave and fake out though...) and Ninetales isn't available, this is my next best option. She really is an underrated mon as her stats really make great use of that fake out. I saw Ame use an army so I went "why the heck not?" and was meant for a temp joke Pokemon. This thing has been in so many main battles it's kind of funny. She'll be part of the Valor Mountain assualt team for sure.

 

Meet the main source of damage. It's fast and it has Brave Bird. I've really made great use of this set as Haze is really useful for stopping seed boosts and sweepers. It's mostly a Brave Bird spammer and easily one of my strongest mons. Probably number 3 right behind Veigue.

 

So fun fact: I never meant to use this thing...hence the ultra ball. But here we are and here this thing is. It just got that fusion but this was my saving grace against Reverent Keta. I hate that fight.

(And the weirdest role goes to...)

 

So most of my videos you'll see Granberia...do nothing but die. She has a vital role but it's not to be a monster. Her main job is to intimidate and baby-doll any major threat to reduce damage. Due to how my rulesets are, every turn is important and she can sponge quite a bit of damage. Sometimes she'll go on the offense, but she's my main debuffer.

(Loewe, you have been replaced)

 

So Karin is my starter and I'm thinking she'll be the main one over Loewe since she has an odd stat spread but it actually works. Unfortunately she kind of has started falling off since she can't sponge perfect EV mons with coverage moves like Blaziken but she's far from useless. Loewe will still be around but probably not used as much. He had a good run though.

(Where in the world is...)

 

Meet one of the latest additions to the crew. I was planning on Chandelure but I like my debuffers which Carmen has the job covered. Sure Nasty Plot over Pain Split would be better but she's proven her worth even as a Misdreavus. Highlight was tanking a Hawlucha like a boss. Good thing I didn't get rid of Psybeam until after that fight.

 

Notable Retired Mons

 

Spoiler

 

Lita is known for two things: RNG screwed and RNG Blessed. She certainly knows how to keep me on my toes and I really enjoyed using her as she's a fun mon. If only her good moves weren't available so late.

 

Cordelia has kind of been an eh mon. She's been useful but not really anything stellar. I could bring her back in the future though if I want to. All these mons draining my heart scales.

 

He has one job: change the field. Another fun weather setter and I kind of wish there was another Blizzard user other than him because watersurface is an annoying field to fight on.

 

I used a Fire Stone on this and I....kind of just haven't found much use for it. With Rain in Crawli's Gym and Angie nerfing fire types to near useless it kind of makes fire types the mon that you really just can't make use of. It's unfortunate because Flareon is my favorite Eeveelution. She does have uses but I don't think she'll return.

 

The reason why Glenn is retired is I don't need two Intimidate users and Granberia...just does it better. He's still a good option and certainly fun for a sand team. I don't regret using him it's just that he didn't feel right on my team.

 

This thing has always been on my ready to pull out of retirement since Prankster is such a good ability. He's frail but has just enough HP to do what he needs to do for team settup. He's a cheese mon, but what isn't cheesing these days.

 

And the medal for who got screwed out of a job goes to...Ashley was pretty decent, but I just wanted to use Mismagius more and Misdreavus is actually useful in battle and well...Lampent isn't quite so useful.

 

Here's a pic of the lesser used teammates or ones I planned on using but didn't:

 

I see some that did some pretty cool feats such as Swoobat and Mightyena but other than that most of those were one-offs or just never used. And yes, I have a Ninetales and I'm still waiting for Jan to actually give us one. Seriously, we get Torkoal aka the better droughter but not Ninetales. Ah well such is life.

 

I do try to keep things interesting and I still don't EV train or really check IVs/Natures except on one mon where it mattered. She needed lots and lots of Attack EVs just to get what I needed out of her. Anyways, I hope you guys will stay tuned when I eventually get around to the next chapter but we are going to be revisiting a lot of old places as thoughts and dialogue did change. 

[Commander]

...I totally jinxed myself for this

 

Chapter 52 Bah Bum Bu-da Bah Da Bum Buh TaKeta!

 

So here's how we're going to divide the chapters up

Chapter 52: Up through Keta

Chapter 53: Up through Spirit Keta

Chapter 54: Up through Narcissa

Chapter 55: Up through Valarie

Chapter 56 & 57: Up through Crawli

Chapter 58 & 59: Up until where we left off before (aka post Angie)

 

Those last 4 chapters kind of are at the point where there's too much for one chapter but almost too little to be separate so we'll see. Also most of the videos are on youtube except for like 6 that I still need to either cut the final take or add music. My computer hates RMXP games and I don't know why. I even fixed the Youtube issue I had but alas I just don't know what is causing it. But let's continue with our Rejuv adventure:

 

(How to get a C&D notice hard and fast)

 

So some of you younger folks might not know this but there have been plenty of online mmos of Pokemon before one of which I kind of really liked, but they all got taken down one by one. Was fun for what it was though but Nintendo hates those things way more than fan-games even. So yeah, never make one of those.

(When life gets you down)

(Seems profitable)

(Yeah...I have mixed feelings about that)

(And...it feels like a beta XD)

(Now off to Johto we go)

(Of course we know what I'd pick)

(I like my sheep)

(And...cue the battle)

 

So I didn't record these for numerous reasons: 1) They are heavy RNG base so it took up to 4 times more attempts than any other fight in the game. 4 times of resets with Bugsy. The other reason is that I couldn't get a good feel for them. Though I did record Falkner who is the most reliable to KO with any of the teams.

(Of course the Chikorita king wins...even if I mistake the name for Ephraim)

(This is the only time a badge requirement is used for these fights)

(I don't know how far it goes)

 

So Falkner is actually in the just right difficulty range even on intense. It was a bit of a puzzle but I never felt the difficulty went too far. Of course I was running set mode with no items so things were going to be harder, but at least most intense fights I felt were within reason. Now I've heard Chikorita has it really hard at the start while other teams have it hard at around Whitney but I don't know how much truth is in there. But, I did draw something interesting you may want to look at:

 

Spoiler

 

Sorry about the crappy quality but it's just a diagram. So at the top I just wrote playerbase just for a title. And each of the layers describes what kinds of people play Pokemon. Half the players are casuals no question, but let's say the other half consist of 20% RPGers, 20% are into competitive, and 10% are just into hardcore difficult games. The circles I drew are kind of the type of people who'd be into the game or at least try it. Memeborn is the far left one and Rejuv Actual is the furthest right. Reborn is at a point where it just barely taps into the other two markets gaining quite a bit of attention to anyone interested in difficulty with Pokemon hence why it was at one point referred to as brutally hard. Redux loses maximum potential players due to it being harder which is something I was aware of way before going into it but I did design it not to be too much harder than Reborn. Memeborn doesn't have much of a potential audience since the required skill level is high and you really can't attract anyone above the hardcore since the hardcore group is so small. This is just one single factor and won't determine popularity, but just to give you an idea of interest. The vocal is the minority so even if you see a game get talked about more doesn't mean more people like it necessarily. You'd be surprised at the other kinds of RPGs people on here have played.

 

Now what about the difference in Rejuv potential vs Rejuv actual. The game has potential to attract a lot of casual Pokemon fans if it started moving away from being like Reborn. Like I would probably recommend this game more than Reborn if it did ease up on the difficulty a bit on normal mode. Normal mode is harder than normal Reborn at least from what my memory serves. Custom moves really didn't help in that front. It's those difficulty changes that caused a shift upward to who'd be attracted towards it. It's not that bad but you are losing about 10% of potential players because of it.

 

Why is this relevant? It's simply to clear up a misunderstanding that difficulty attracts people to a game when it's kind of the opposite. You'll get some, but it also can be offputting. Constant difficulty is very offputting as struggling every moment of a game is frustrating and it can get tiring if not boring. I will admit I did get bored with the difficulty around Terajuma. It's always benenficial to give leisure or simple things to reduce stress or distract the player. Rejuv does do this sometimes and I think the Johto battle would have been a perfect addition to that. I intentionally don't make the rivals battles that tough in Redux as your focus is preparing for the gyms and not so much every battle in the game. They give you time to think and experiment to see what works and what's falling off. Though it always grinds down to preference. Not saying my way is the right way. Just that I have reasons for what I do and I could elaborate more on them if anyone cares.

 

Well that was a rant...and thinking of other games people play

 

DID YOU SEE THEY MADE AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR COLD STEEL 3. I AM SO HAPPY AND A BIT SAD XSEED DIDN'T GET IT BUT I AM JUST HAPPY WE ARE GETTING IT REGARDLESS BECAUSE IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE GAME SERIES AAHHHHHH!

 

Now back to things readers care about:

(The only thing mad about him are his mad skills)

(Okay...maybe he is a bit crazy. Harmless, but crazy)

(Crazy people are fun though. Well most crazy people. Geara ain't fun...oh god I have to do more of his lines)

(Maybe I shouldn't have told him to install a security system)

(It didn't last time I was here)

(Hi, I'm Commander and this is...)

(I mean he gave me keys to his lab whenever he was away but...)

(The other reason I have keys to his place)

(Bye Flora, won't be seeing you for like 20 chapters)

(I think my hiatus did things to you. You were supposed to be on my side)

(............Are we really going to...)

(Class is in sess)

(Surprise new boss battle time)

 

Spoiler

 

 

I really tried using Tropius but as you'll see it just...sucks. So glad the one event got chan...oh that's spoilers whoops. I mean you can make great use of a DD one but other than that it just has to be desired stats.

(Oh he mad)

(Is it me or do those white tiles look like a smiley face?)

(Symbi what now?)

(Well...yep that's Jenkel for you. Mutations being beneficial for Pokemon)

(So you are harming them? I don't...it's Jenkel. I shouldn't question my master)

(I understand. Just like how all critics are evil people who enjoy seeing others suffer. I mean I do, but not everyone likes to trash stuff for fun)

(That smile is creeping me out now. Put the machine back)

(Party at Jenkels? Actually, he seems like a party animal)

(I'll be back...actually I won't since you don't have anything for me. Keep the bed warm though)

(It was a fun distraction. Jenkel is the same as always)

(..........................................................................................................I THOUGHT WE WERE DONE WITH THE IDIOT LOGIC!)

 

So we are trying to save a girl in danger but instead of doing the smart thing we do the...you know what, I'll let that pass. This is not a fight I wanna fight.

(Except we can't start it until after Amethyst Cave)

 

I'm kind of sad as Jenkel had one of my favorite features in the game with the time machine aspect with that bed. The new event isn't bad but...I just really loved the old one. The change does make sense story wise since it involves Korrina pushing the plot instead of wondering around to find her so I guess it's a good change for anyone but me...even if I never want to go back into Jenkel's bed ever again.

 

And not for route...oh we're still not done with Gearen. What more could be...

(Oh god)

(Well that escalated quickly)

(Hi, I'm totally not here right now)

(Gotcha! I'll meet you over there because I'm totally a Xen Grunt...but with a soul)

(I would but that's the only one in the city)

(...Is that a mother...NOPE! I'm not going there)

(Go! Go! Xeno Rangers!)

(Well that was incredibly easy)

(Sometimes I wonder what goes through Jan's head when making these events. This is coming from a guy who thought of 8 ways to murder someone with a toaster)

(And we haven't seen them since. Also, Swoop there it is!)

(And here's a Pokemon I'm never gonna use)

(Here's another Pokemon I'm never gonna use)

(...Isn't this where Sean got the...)

(Ay-U-da man)

(Should've went with Amy so it'd be Ayu, Amy)

(This is supposed to be a play on, isn't it? I don't get it. I think Ayu Ame Corp is better)

(10/10 originality. Also has my gender and spells my favorite vegetable and starts with the same letter as my favorite Johto starter. It has much meaning behind it)

(Well that sums up the choices pretty well, doesn't it?)

(Are you saying I'm special? I guess I am if I traveled to another dimension where I have to redo everything I just did but nobody recognizes me...maybe that's why I don't talk)

(Can't say I disagree? No, that does not give you permission to call me weird. Only my parents, a girlfriend, or Morgan Freeman are allowed to call me that. Of course Morgan Freeman can call me anything just so I can hear that soothing voice)

(Too late. I just did)

(I guess the white hair gave me superpowers)

(..............................Oh heck no)

(I'm just gonna skip over this next part.)

(Why don't you ask Amanda? Not like she has anything better to do.)

 

Also why didn't we get this at the start of the HC. It's not uncommon for people to finish up the HC before Venam and never walk back in here. It's just a suggestion since we'll be collecting these for a very, very long time it seems.

(Is this like a cube where I shake it, it'll give me all the answers?)

(Oh magic cube, should I ever come back here?)

 

...it didn't say anything so I assume no.

(Well excuse me, princess)

(Oh. This isn't FEH. Does that mean I can't...oh wait we're in NA. That feature was removed)

 

And Nim time:

 

Spoiler

 

(I forgot about that. That's a nice thing to get)

(That line never gets old)

(I...have something I should say)

 

It's kind of implied Nim has been watching us this whole time and probably from the psychic real she's in. I know April said something about a tribe so I hope we eventually get to meet that tribe as they seem interesting. I doubt we will but I do expect April to show up later in the story. If she doesn't, that'd be sad.

(Why did you guys wait for me? I spent like 20 minutes just wondering around for friendship evolutions)

(So I actually want you to relook at these lines as it's actually a bit of self reflection. That much is made clearer in a rewritten segment of the game)

(We go save Melia....I guess)

(Fine. I guess getting Houndour will have to wait)

(Oh. That's where the Galvantula came from...why was it here in the first place?)

(I don't know if this was changed but it feels like it flows better. Also rifts look cooler now)

(And another battle time)

 

Bur first...

(The one time Tropius was useful)

 

Spoiler

 

(And we are into the next...)

(So water cuts people in half...good to know)

 

Yeah flowers function like grass so you get funny images like that.

(That's kind of the game)

(That's new though. Is that the egg from Mario and Luigi Partners in time? Kind of looks like Sunnyside. I'm going to look for a reference)

 

Spoiler

 

I guess it is a unique sprite. Does remind me of Sunnyside though

 

(So is it a baby or a mama?)

(And begins my suffering)

 

So I'm just going to say up front that I was planning on making a fail compiliation but that I feel is going to end up being too much work due to resets and such. But please, Jan add a PC in here because I was not prepared at all and I refuse to team up with Venam. Anyways, here's the video:

 

Spoiler

 

(So this could relate to the moon...or the name could mean part as if she's part and not whole)

(And Zetta got put in his place)

(Oh hey, new reaction)

(Ren trying to be the hero right now)

 

Oh, I do want to take a step back and talk about some detail Ren mentioned later in the story. When he said "She lied to me" she didn't mean Narcissa but Crescent lied about Melia being dead which is why he joined Team Xen. The dialogue was changed a bit but I did want to clear that up now in case I didn't screencap it which I think I did.

 

Okay so that scene I think was changed a bit (I'm not looking back to find that chapter but if someone can please tell me) as it doesn't feel as bad as it did, but there still wasn't much of a reaction out of it. It's better though or maybe my tolerance for the game has really skyrocketed since Terajuma. Whatever. I didn't mind it as much a second time around. 

(Will I get a reward out of it?)

(Hold the...why are you wearing a hat in the overworld but not in your battle sprite? And how do you go from black to white to black. You're not Michael Jackson)

(I already have. Just this time with extra suffering)

(Well the gang fight was kind of anticlimatic...even if Vigoroth nearly owned me)

(That's another thing cleared)

(I FINALLY UNDERSTAND THIS LINE!)

 

I know some spoiler stuff so I actually understand why she says this line now.

(Guess we can't use this one...this run)

 

So a soft restriction I put on myself is I can't use mons I used in the old run. So basically I can't have two Pangoro, two Leavanny, etc. Lycanroc is an exception since you can't get that one before V10/11 in the Dusk form. Besides, I like my doggies. 

(I kind of just randomly pick these up. I'm not going to get all 150)

(Same old Jenkel. Never change.)

(Thanks for the book)

(Well that was easy)

(...Great. Team Xen is involved with gangs. How low can they get?)

(Sigh...we gotta do this the hard way it seems)

(It's clear which option I picked...because I already know pretty much everything about these fields)

 

I don't know if the dialogue changes...let me actually look...the dialogue is the same. I kind of wish there was a set for manning through the shocking. Something like "Holy shit I can't believe they made it through alive" or something. I love little details like that in a game.

(...You're the only one I beat on the first try so far in this run...except for Keta but that was pure luck)

(Yeah this is like death for Venam)

 

Spoiler

 

 

(Well at least the place is more interesting)

(It was only dark because I cut the power)

(Not even a Tropius)

(Heh!)

 

So I have something special to showcase for this fight. And it ended up even funnier than I could have ever planned.

 

Spoiler

 

(Sigh...another battle that was hell for me)

 

Spoiler

 

 

And for my prize I pick...

(I can see the rage right now)

 

So the most logical choice would actually be Espeon since that thing hits like a truck and is great for Keta, but I wanted to go with Flareon since that's my favorite Eeveelution...sadly he won't be getting much use since my core team kind of didn't really need his use and the fights where he would be useful are brutal to fire types. Seriously, it's a terrible idea to bring a fire type to Angie unless you melt the field or change it. Even then she has so much coverage for them. Steel is the smart choice tbh.

(I see that error is still in Rejuv as well)

 

So something that the party system does that I didn't bother to fix was add Pokemon to the Pokedex. It's not a big issue and you can actually exploit that for the Johto fights gaining Totodile, Cyndaquil, and Chikorita by losing a few times. Nice way to pump up the Pokedex numbers a bit.

 

Now for a couple things I missed:

(...RIP Keta)

(...That makes me feel like shit knowing what Texen does to this place. Like I ruined sacred ground when I did nothing)

(I wonder why it's familiar hmmm....)

(...I think this is actually a big plot point)

 

I'm not sure if the story will be altered by your choices or not. Seemed like everything I did in the game played out more or less the same. Maybe Jan will throw a surprise but I won't be surprised if there's ultimately only one ending...kind of how I think most games should be. I don't particularly care for multiple ending games or branched path games since most of the time I kind of want a game to be a one time thing then done or at least be able to do everything in one run.

(Kind of agree with that philosophy. False hope is still hope after all)

(And I forget why I screencappped those. My feelings towards this part kind of remain the same...but thanks for early venoshock. I appreciate that for Roselia)

 

And now...

 

Here's our big fight of the chapter:

Spoiler

 

 

Keta I got kind of lucky for a first try, but I did know what I was doing. I don't really think he's too bad though Lucario is a monster who probably could've swept me if I was unlucky. I don't think I could repeat it. I would say this is pushing the envelope of difficulty a bit much since we are still in the early stages of the game and not everyone is going to be running a Xatu or Swoobat. I kind of dislike the fact that it's all physical attackers as while fighting does lack special mons...it's the early game so there's PLENTY to work worth or play around with which disappoints me. One of the reasons I really like Reborn is the team design is often stuff you wouldn't expect which is sometimes used even if it does make the fight easier. I prefer creativity over difficulty any day.

 

And that's about it. See you guys on the next chapter which probably is going to be my favorite thing to cover in this whole thing.

[Commander]

Chapter 53: Death to all but that Lapras

 

How to sum up a chapter in a title.

 

(Looks like somewhere got an update)

(Someone got a little test change happy)

(I still don't like SEC)

(And this is kind of the same just with a different map)

(And here's Lita slayer of Flareons everywhere)

(Well that was uneventful. The place looks better though)

(Huh? There's still more)

(That glass looks expensive...and fragile)

(Clara is new. I like Clara)

(We're never done with robots. There's a mech anime every year)

(Shouldn't you be aware of our presence from SEC...then again who would want to listen to him)

(What the...)

(Oh come on! I wanted a free ride)

 

So yeah, that happened.

(Okay, I get the idea but I gotta talk about it for a second)

 

Does anything look jarring in this scene? You gotta be honest to yourself as even when you really, really like a game sometimes there can be a part that just looks ugly. You see the doorway behind Madelis, you probably are about to get what I'm talking about. I get the idea that the factory is built into the wall but that does create some jarring depth perception with the pillars. The pillars indicate that the doorway should be curved in and a bit covered yet the wall is perfectly visible. In layman's terms, the top wall about the second set of doors creates a perception error. It's easy to miss if you aren't paying attention to it but when you do it can really bother you. I think it's easily fixed by putting a border on top there but I haven't tinkered with it. It's kind of hard to describe how 2-d games work because it's all about the illusion of depth.

(Someone got a personality makeover)

 

It's a good change as I said she reminded me too much of Nastashia aka probably the most forgettable character in the game besides Neved.

(You have my permission to turn her into a cyborg)

(Well this is new)

(Yes, yes I did follow you. How's WLL progress going?)

(This can't be good)

(I'm pretty sure your version of drastic is like half the subplots of this game)

(I mean duh it's a trap. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that)

(..........Hooray for collection quests)

(Yet she lays them out all around to find)

(She's...not that threatening let's be honest. More bark than bite. Well the only one to really show a bite is Madame X as the rest play dirty when they ultimately lose)

(Guess we're teaming up with Ken...Keta again)

(Only a crazy person would run through this madness again)

(Someone has too much time on there hands)

 

And after a long explanation of locations:

(Keta must be some type of party animal)

(I don't even want to think about what went down at your last party, Keta)

 

So I like when tiny details mean something down the line to explain a character. I think this party thing was a one off gag, but it'd be cool to see it actually play relevance such as maybe Keta made a wreck of this place before to try and stop Madelis still playing by the bounds of the rules to not break his contract. We do see some of that such as the elder at the beginning speaking about how the player arrived.

(I like trains)

(Well this is new)

 

I think the left one is the female galactic grunt and the right sprite is Cheren. Guess it's nice to get new sprites as it keeps things interesting to look at.

 

I'm not gonna comment much on this:

(Explaining shadow Pokemon, nice)

(Nothing new here. Pretend I'm not even here)

(That barrier is new. Time to put this last key in)

(I thought you told us not to. Stop contradicting yourself)

(So this is a good stopping point)

 

I really like how they are interacting like they know each other quite well. They do and that's shown in WLL. When I gave criticisms before or rewrites I'm not saying "Hey, this is how to write it" but simply showing one of many approaches towards it as I don't put a lot of thought nor do I know the full story. It sound more like someone took the things I said and redid it to give a better interpretation and presentation. That's the way to go as all I'm doing is bringing my thoughts to the table. I want to make it clear that I do not have the power to change the game nor change your opinion on your enjoyment of the game. At worst, I can rise up subconscious thoughts in your head and perhaps swing them a certain way if you have not put a lot of thought into them. That's just something I want to implant when I explain everything at the end.

(I guess...you gotta get over it. [song cue])

 

Only Zero no Kiseki players will understand

(Oh hell this is so, so much better than the original)

(No, Aelita it's not)

(I don't think you have much of a choice in that situation)

(Madelis is many things, but a liar isn't one of them. Also that chair is awesome)

(Keta admitting to his sins)

(One who is lost from the light can always find their way back. Perhaps this was fate)

(Don't mind me. I'll just be sitting here figuring out how to jump a barrier. Where's Lloyd when you need him?)

(Hmmm....don't tell me we're all gonna die)

(Keta is my brother and the protag of the other run. He des...he's not my actual brother but he's the only one in this room I can stand longer than 20 minutes)

(So I thought this was weird, but it makes sense as I know more about the game)

(Aelita, it has everything to do with it)

(This is an important little detail. There's a reason why she's confused)

(Well we were all screwed to begin with given Madame X is probably creating a new world or something)

(...Please don't involve me in fam...she's gonna kill me for the Melia thing, isn't she?)

(You realize I was making a joke when I thought her as being fabulous...don't change it though)

 

I'm gonna be honest. Madelis is by far my favorite of the Xen villains and nobody even comes to a close second. All of her actions make sense as she's arrogant and really out for herself until a bigger dog barks at her then she becomes second fiddle if not just plain pathetic. It makes her such a good first villain threat since she doesn't feel like the big bad but she still feels like a dangerous baddie. Some people may not like her new tropey flair personality but I think we can agree she feels much more than a plot dump now.

(That's also new. Guess we won't be getting a long clipscene before the impossible Mewtwo battle.)

(...And we've entered the belly of the beast it seems)

(She planted a bomb, didn't she? Nah. She probably ran out on SEC...she really is a master troll)

(That is kind of how deals work. You break your end, you die)

(She has a point. Though it's not like she wouldn't have done the things she did if you died anyways being honest)

(Battle time?)

(Okay, I think this is Madame X this time. Why does she want a Shadow of that?)

(She's doing her happy dance. That's never a good sign)

(Where is the discount store where Xen is finding all these legends as I want one)

(Okay those two images together look like they are part of a mural. I probably could crop it to make it look better but that takes more effort)

(My vote is for Aelita. That'd give us enough time to gtfo of there)

(Guess we're dealing with this again. Member when Shadow Pokemon were relevant)

(Even with a Snag machine it would've been hell)

(And...we lost)

 

So I actually lost but I did manage to screencap the scene if you lose which you'll see here:

(We...didn't even reach Mewtwo)

(Well that was embarrassing. I guess Swalot was a terrible option for this fight)

(...Maybe I spoke a bit too soon)

(Vivian, is that you?)

(I'd do what she says but...we gotta go back in time for a minute)

 

Spoiler

 

I would also point out that I did it without exploiting hyper mode. The strat was pretty simple where I'd defend and Keta would attack given he had the firepower where I had the human intelligence to avoid damage.

 

I gotta say holy shit that's different than before. I really like how threatening of a force Madelis is as you really need to plan to take her down. But I kind of get the theme being based around the character/type as Madelis is charming (Salazzle and Florges) and Dark type. It's a bit weird but their teams are kind of memorable due to it. It just feels a bit weird with the selection. It's not a bad weird, but weird and a bit unnatural in a way. When you have to explain or really think about how a team theme idea works it's kind of at the point where you can't really say if it's a good team or a bad one in terms of theme. I mean they function well but it's one of those that it's gonna be a hit or miss with people given devs can't be over everyone's shoulder to explain something.

 

I want to also remind you that telling a players that it's there fault for not understanding is not a good response or simply that it's only them never ends on a good note. So something that is true whether you hate it or not is that you will get attacked for not having the popular opinion and having a certainly type of personality certainly doesn't help the case. It's so easy to get onto my case as sometimes I can be sarcastic or walk the line and even easier to go "Because a person is like that they can't know what they're saying." If you've done that, take that piece of your mind and be ready to fight it constantly. I've had plenty of times where I fought it and end up at least trying to do the right thing. Speaking of...it took me an episode of RWBY to finally understand a certain tic I had that set off a chain of events.

 

This is a bit of a spoiler so be warned

Spoiler

So I couldn't actually fully grasp why the Melia x Venam thing bothered me but it kind of makes sense looking at RWBY Volume 6 Episode 12. So the second half of the volume had a subplot of Yang and Blake getting over Adam from the whole battle at Beacon when this didn't ever come up before and Blake clearly kicked Adam's ass in Season 5. It was like this big thing where they altered Adam's character to be more of a manipulator and abuser when in reality from what I saw he just had a warped mindset. Not the important thing. So the dialogue in the battle pretty much grinds down to Adam not being over Blake yet feeling betrayed then telling Yang the same thing is going to happen to her as it was already happening. And apparently Yang and Blake are pretty much a confirmed canon thing after this. I wish I was making this up (and I even forgot about Sunny XD) but it just felt kind of...random to decide to do that which explains why I felt some lines were really jarring in the whole thing. I couldn't figure out why this tic went off in something like RWBY, but sometimes not in other things. And now it's hit me.

 

I like things being established from the get go. This does not mean I like to know everything. It's more like I have an understanding of how a story and setting functions roughly around the 10-15% mark. I don't need to know where I'm going, but I like to see where I'm going. So picture this: you're on a boat and see sand, palm trees, a bunch of islands with a nice warm breeze. You arrive in Antarctica. It's that feeling that tics my brain. I'll admit love can be spontaneous and random but there are so many ways to really smooth the passage to those ideas. It's not a bad thing but the tic kind of sets my mind to "this was a bad idea" but it can be warmed up seeing how it plays out. It only happens if it feels random or pulled kind of out of thin air in my mind. Don't put much thought into it as first impressions don't determine if a character is good or bad. Just the typical response towards it.

 

...Which now reminds me of the whole fact the game is in some altered reality shit or something. I don't even want to know how the hell that happened and that certainly isn't something I'm looking forward to. And before you guys say anything to defend or say I'm wrong, it is and it isn't a writing sin. It's more like a sign that you are a rather incompetent writer. Sign. That does not mean fact. Time Travel, Alternate Worlds, and Bringing back the dead are the big three. When one of the three are introduced to a works (different from being established) it almost never ends well. If you guys want me to go into writing sins or like my own interpretation and my top 10, I certainly could go into it but it could bore you guys to death for all I know and I don't wanna be giving lectures if nobody is listening. And don't worry, I've broken all three.

(Guess the perfect mon isn't so perfect)

(Keta had 3 more Pokemon and I have uhhh 2? I probably am on my last stand)

(Okay, I think the dialogue is different here)

(This man be taking on a second Mewtwo. He deserves a medal)

(Keta ain't gonna last long against that thing)

(Good-bye favorite character of mine. Why do the good ones go so soon?)

(If only he went out a more badass way)

(Well we've looked everywhere else so it's probably there)

 

And here's the team I used

(Yeah, yeah I used three starters. So fun fact is that only one of these guys is on the current rotation)

(I have a new mission. To sit my ass on every seat in the region. No seat shall escape thy ass)

(Those statues are starting to creep me out. It's like they're staring into my soul)

(This is kind of the same)

(Sigh...Am I the one who is going to have to deal with this?)

(Yeah, Aelita. Violence isn't always the answer)

(I...like this robot. Why can't SEC be more like this thing. Too bad we'll never see you again after this segment)

(Guess we gotta put it down then)

(And here she...where's the green aura on the mewtwo?)

(I'll buy her off of you. She's a nice robot...and more helpful than most of my companions)

(So if you stroke her ego she'll let you free...I'm not sure if I trust that or not)

(Now you're just asking to die)

(And it's another boss battle time)

(So it's a baby and not the actual...no wonder it's so weak)

(......I don't remember....oh god)

(I'm starting to feel bad about this)

 

Spoiler

 

(You're...welcome for murdering you)

(that's not a good sign...oh hello Gothitelle)

(Madelis in a nutshell)

(This scene is more or less the same but it has some slight differences I think)

 

Sigh...I guess I'll do it for the old scene

(What curzes haz ze devil brought upon our glorious nation?)

(Zwei are lozing ze lab, ze mizzion, and even ze edge ever since ze raid on ze lake. Zi cannot live without ze edge)

(But zwei cannot forget ze zupid zuicidal girl going zucidal. What a world zwei live in)

(How can zwei win ze war when ze prize ez spider doo doo)

(Zwei even lost me band partner, Zetta. What can zi do without ze blonde dishing out zose zweet beatz)

(Ze also make zose rift monstrozities but zho cares about zat)

(Zewut did zu say to ze great Geara? Do zu think zu zar above ze Geara because ze Geara about to show zu ze whooping of ze ass right now)

(Zough zu seem to have ze calms too much right now. Zi am not ze crazy one here for thinking zis, no?)

(Do zu see zis ass? Zis ass ez better zan any ass zu zall ever get.)

 

I kind of only did snippets so you get the abridged version. I wasn't thinking about French boy when screenshotting these these.

(Zat ez funnier zan Neved going black)

(Zho zum little baybays zar ze problem. Zu lost little baybays. Zu zar more pathetic zan ze dirt on ze Geara's feet)

(Zat name. Oh zow zhi hate zat name)

(Zere ez not za dumpster in ze world zat would accept zuch trashy trash)

(Only za baby would zay za baby haz power)

(Zi zall handle ze baby with ease. Ze moment I zee zem, Zi zall zow zem zhi power)

(Holy zit! Zi zon zof a zitch zoo turned zhi into ze zupid French man with ze accent of terrible ez here. Zoot zem before zit ez zoo late)

 

Thank god that's over. At least it's not Citrine lines. Those make me lose IQ points.

(Now we know how long it's been since Melia died)

 

Jan, can we seriously get a timeline of when what events take place? I just kind of want to know the duration of the events or approximate duration to get an idea how long the protag has been on an adventure since they left the boat during certain point in the story. Doesn't have to be specific, but just a general idea.

(Suddenly Shiny Celebi. Go away. I want the old one back)

(Seriously, what is up with these Shinies replacing everything. It's a conspiracy. They're taking over the world with Melia as their queen)

 

The directions are new

(I like the pic of the elder. Nice touch whoever made that)

 

Not much else was notable so now it's...

(How bad could this be?)

(Son of a Giratina it's bad.)

 

Spoiler

 

(Well that's a good thing)

(Well that's a bad omen)

 

Oh boy there's a lot to talk about in this one. Where do I begin? Let's start with the battle. The battle was...way too hard. I've had trouble on other fights but that was more of my mon selection than more or less it being too hard. Geara down the line I could've brought a sucker punch mon which would resolve the issue I had. I'm going to just grind down everything wrong with the fight. The first sin is 31 IVs on all mons. Toning them down to 25 may not seem much of a difference but it can help reduce OHKOs on mons. Now I'm going to break down each mon individually:

 

Ninetales: A very strong mon with a bit on the low side special attack, but solid speed and special defense. A solid tank with very little that'll outspeed it and is a very hard hitter at this point in the game

Donphan: A rather fast mon at this point in the game with solid attack and defense. Very little will be able to one shot without taking significant damage. Thankfully it has to be desired special defense to take it down

Gabite: Another strong and hard hitting ground type, but does have a bit more weakness to ice types...except there really isn't one making it really tanky and will dish out a lot of damage. Also outspeeds most options

Roserade: A monster with really high attack power, speed, and special defense on top of technician with the only saving grace is that it often uses Venoshock, the move that hits about half as hard as its other options (Magical leaf does 70-90% of a +6 sp def Solrock...let that sink in for a minute)

Lapras: A massive tank with solid stats all around for this point in the game including speed which the seed boosts its damage to ludicrous levels on top of having solid coverage against most options that can really damage it. The thing has Surf.

Gallade: Probably the least threatening thing on his team due to being a little on the slow side but still faster than many options. Has a massive attack so will probably one shot a lot of options.

 

The biggest kick to the dick is that we already earned the gym badge and now how to refight the guy for the same reward. I know it's a reference to WLL and probably is supposed to be mons that died with that story which is why he doesn't have Lucario. So fun little fact Az tried to dish on me the fact I complained about Roserade when I actually used a Roserade on Florinia. I told him that it doesn't have Technician on top of it originally didn't have any damaging moves which proved to be an issue with the AI so I adjusted it a little bit. It's more of a scare tactic than it being a threat. I do think it's a bit ironic that Roserade, a top tier grass threat, is not viewed as a threat on Keta's team despite having solid coverage and insane damage. How did that not raise flags?

 

I don't think a single person is going to be happy hearing me say this or read it because I'm touching what their sacred ground is, but this fight just needs to be nerfed or changed in some ways. It's not so much a fight of strategy but more of you either have a team that can handle insanely strong mons at this point in the game or you don't. I didn't so I had to use Solrock to take out the main threats. Every single one of Keta's options are stronger than every single one of your options so it's really hard not to have 2 mons damaged from one of his. Do the math and you'll figure it out. Yes, I have restrictions on myself, but it just circles back to the issue. Keta's mons have really strong stats, solid moves, and all have various benefits from the field. It's not a difficulty thing, but the fact most of the following can't match or even come close to that difficulty due to simply players have better options and more of a selection. If I didn't use Solrock, I think most of my fights would've been 1/3rd of the length of outtakes this one would've had. 1/3rd. So this fight really needs to be nerfed for consistent difficulty over whether or not it is beatable imo. Remember the diagram I showed before? There's nothing gained from a fight being too hard, but there's nothing lost from a fight being too easy. That's a very important fact to remember when nerfing/buffing fights.

 

***

Anyways, with that rant aside I do want to talk about the changes next. I don't know why but Rejuvenation feels more vibrant. It probably won't come to anyone's surprise, but I don't particularly care for Rejuv's story. It's pretty cliche and predictable which I haven't really seen much to say it's a very noteworthy story to write down in my books. Sorry, but you sometimes have to be brutally honest. With that said, I care about what Rejuv does with its story. I've talked about its little charm aspect and I really think Jan must've heard me or someone as bits of that are seen everywhere and it's just more fun to read and watch the story play out just to see how characters react or what animation Jan throws next. That vibrant feel is just really engaging and it really saves the story. I want to see what Jan is going to throw at us next as this eye candy makes reading the story worth it. I've said it many times is that Rejuv is at its best when it's not trying to be Reborn and I think it's on the right direction. I really does have that vibrant experience I don't think you can pick up any fan-game and really get.

 

If I had to distinguish the differences between Reborn and Rejuvenation in a sentence I could actually do it now:

 

"Reborn is about the adventure, but Rejuvenation is about the journey."

 

Edit: Oh right, I forgot all about the thing I wanted to do. Remember when I said my words alone are meaningless, well I found an interesting video you should watch.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Now I'm not particularly a fan of the subject, but this Youtuber did bring up a lot of good points about Mary Sues in the first half of the video. His ending note is pretty solid to stating that creators have an obligation to try and avoid Mary Sues by making changes to the content and learning and improving. It's because people speak out in mass that changes happen such as characters being dropped or changed. I will be discussing Melia obviously when we get there.

[DerogatoryTrainer]

Really, really glad I didn't have to deal with the baby Volcanion actually having lines in my run.

 

But it's safe to say I've got no sympathy for Madelis, no matter how many trays Cassandra knocks out of her hands. 

[Dex]

Quote

"I will be discussing Melia obviously when we get there"

 

But you are already there technically, in another. . . timeline(?). 

 

The Spirit Keta fight, all I can say is thank god I played Version 9. I seriously doubt I could have beaten him with the Team I had at the time. Madelis using her Pokemon alongside Shadow Mewtwo is news to me. Like thank goodness they partner you up with Keta, could you imagine having to fight her in a doubles by yourself. 

---

[Commander]

Well Rejuv finally broke me which is sad because I was actually starting to give a damn about the story. It's not so much rage quit but more fatigue to the point it just ain't fun to play anymore. I don't know when or if I'll pick it back up but the run is going on hiatus.

 

So what happened is I wasn't having too much trouble on Intense then whelp I did have a couple issues with Kyogre and Giratina but they weren't anything I could think of a way to handle. Then Geara and Zetta which I just only have a couple things in my large arsenal that can even survive a turn on him. I realize know I could pull Gigalith out and do so much damage with Sand Rock Slide combos but it's not really going to make me happy or more interested in the game.

 

Well I'll start by saying intense gives you a nice fu having Snorlax be in the lead instead of Zoroark. Intimidate makes it hit like a wet noodle which establishes Melia pretty much being a handicap. I'm sorry but Melia's team is pretty godawful compared to the matchup you face to the point I think I'd have a way, way easier time it being a 6v12. Zetta and Geara also have really, really good teams which Geara lost two Pokemon (Masquerain and Persian) just to make it more difficult with a Gyarados. Even a solo battle against either of these would be interesting but it's a double battle.

 

I see why it's the hardest battle in the game and it just makes me look there and wonder why it hasn't been fixed. I figured it would be much more manageable on normal mode, but what if I told you I had a harder time on normal mode than I did intense. Even easy mode did a surprising amount of damage which honestly easy mode should be normal just with more mons. That's just my opinion.

 

Kind of sucks I spent a very, very long time on it to just walk away but since I didn't bother even reading the dialogue after that fight, I think it's for the best. I think it's been pretty clear Rejuvenation is not a game made for me. I'll be locking this thread in a week or so and I'll figure out where to go from there.

 

I'll probably be putting up a poll to see what people want to see. While I like Desolation, I don't want to really touch a game that may remain incomplete instead of one still in development and active. Most likely it'll be Postscriptum, Legends of the Arena, or that Present Game released around Christmas.

 

And a message to Jan if he reads this, don't beat yourself up over this. It's just a lot of little things piled up which one big one set me off. I don't really care for hard battles where I have to go out of my way to win and I have a boatload of games I could jump to and enjoy without that. V11 took a huge step in the right direction to the point honestly only difficulty balance should be a main worry. The more difficult a game is, the less people are going to be interested in the story. Besides, it's not like you need me to say something to picture a rant about time paradoxes and the whole world retconned thing.

[DemICE]

You should have drowned them with Waily :X   Ironic how this post comes a day after someone trolls them to oblivion xd

[Commander]

..............................................................................................

..............................................................................................

..............................................................................................

I am really bad at this. Don't fucking say anything.

At all.

Just.

Don't.

 

Chapter 54: Every time I say I'm done, let's assume it's simply a 2 week to 3 month hiatus

 

I already know people are gonna be pissed as this is starting to become a regular thing. It's weird as when I cancel something I end up getting back to it but when something is on hiatus it never gets continued. So I guess pray I never go on a hiatus and cancel instead. But no, I do tend to mean what I say when I'm done I just am easily swayed to continue. I never want to look at that Geara and Zetta fight ever again though as I really, really dislike it and it's my least favorite fight in the game. I didn't mind the Intimidate spam and abandoned city fights as much since they were optional and you can always come back and prepare for them pretty easily. If you can't beat Geara and Zetta, you might be trapped and you have to walk down a large ass mountain. I'm really not looking forward to getting to that part.

 

Okay, now let's back up for a minute and talk about what is going to change. I've played through the whole game so obviously I'm going to talk about future segments early which those will be placed in a spoiler just in case anyone hasn't reached those points yet. I really needed that light at the end of the tunnel. Anyways, I'm also not going to do videos again. It's not hard but it's a war to get those to work and I don't feel like dealing with Audio vs Outtakes anymore. Yeah, they'll be more disappointing but it is what it is. I'll be putting the other videos up through Angie on Intense public because I may as well since they are on Youtube. Just don't expect any more of those. The intense run is done and caught up to V11, however, I still have the normal mode run and a different route I can take.

 

The script alterations I put in have been changed back to normal since I no longer am using a custom ruleset (though I'll probably restrict myself on items). Other than that, kind of expect that same old content as usual but I'm going to try and power through all the old content in one or two chapters because we really don't need to dwell too long onto it.

(So this chapter doesn't have a cool background unfortunately)

(Also look at my nice dead team)

 

Nothing much to note...until Rorim B.

(Hello there........other world Rorim. I'm Commander. In another dimension, I'm your son)

(Gee...I wonder why)

 

Thtat totally was unintentional as I had no idea the dialogue would line up like that. Oh parallel worlds how wack you be.

(._. Ah great an important image is broken)

 

So there's an image where mysterious lights pop up

(Seeing the first line gave me Snakewood flashbacks)

 

So something you may actually be surprised is that I actually like games that don't take themselves seriously kind of like this. It's when you stop worrying about logic and just straight up have fun. I could easily see people say all the corny stuff is stupid but it tends to make me laugh as this is the type of thing I'd totally would do if I had the resources and skills available. Some people this kind of stuff could be a big turnoff and I'd understand but sometimes you have to kick back and have a laugh. I'll probably do a Kingdom Heart 3 review and talk about why it works when I finish that game. Probably more collected and clear over that WLL. Not my proudest review but I did want to try and really avoid talking about big things. Anyways Rorim B fight wasn't anything big.

(I have a level 95 Ninetales and Delcatty in the box if you think that's strong)

(So...I don't fight Ren or Aelita...that's interesting)

 

I think Rorim B should be buffed a little bit to make up for the lack of a second mini boss. It does make sense later though I think I would have preferred fighting Aelita now.

(Also, meet Anelace...the one mystery egg mon I didn't want)

(Yeah...I'm just gonna let you read this as I don't want to relive it)

(You have no idea how many attempts that took)

 

So I learned these were made way harder on intense by adding an additional Pokemon on top of evolving some mons into their Gen IV variant. I think this took me 30 attempts until the rolls finally went my way. One thing I really hate about mons and the whole difficult Pokemon fan-games is that it feels more like your rewarded on using better stuff and good luck and rarely ever is a skill level. RPGs really aren't hard in general and when things get difficult you can usually tell if it's your levels that are the main issue or more or less the lack of knowledge on the system. Because you aren't making full use of the mechanics, the game can feel a bit unfair or just brutal which can just be tiring. WLL really nailed the just right difficulty for most people imo but that's due to its restrictions.

 

There's a part of difficulty I never talked about but it's also something to take into consideration: human error. 0 human error means you have to do something in an exact sequence and cannot be done in any other way. Low human error means limited options. The more human error is allowed, the more mistakes someone can make, but on the flip side it leaves more room to experiment. That's how I feel where gym leaders in this game really shine on Intense. You've gotten plenty of time to build a team and it's a good time to see how your results turn out. I'm not saying this is how to design battles, but it's to explain why RPGs often end up really easy the second time you go around.

(Oh, believe me, that's who's coming up next)

(Well this is the fight that broke me XD)

 

I kind of got tired of soft resetting due to bad RNG which a lot of this plays out to be more or less. Damn increased crit rate.

(Somebody got a makeover)

(This man really needs a haircut. At least he looks more like the guy in the picture now)

(I maid a mistake continuing this. Get it, oh that would have been better for the Angie segment)

(Why did I even take pictures of this segment? Probably to space it out better)

(Do you know how long it took me to figure out how to get back here?)

 

Also I think Jan figured out how to prevent escaping with Marianette. So good on him fixing glitches.

(Still creepy having a 10 year old watch me sleep)

(This is actually going to be interesting to talk about)

(You can blame a certain someone for that)

(He's not talking about Marianette)

 

So this is actually a bit of foreshadowing of an important element that's going to be coming into play soon. The problem with that though is that it makes the intro all the more confusing to understand. Did it happen or did it not happen?

(This is going to have quite a bit to talk about since WLL does cause some headaches to talk about)

(You said it)

(Oh look I'm a pretty blonde girl)

 

See? I can remember to do stuff when I go around a second time

(And that's the same despite wherever you end it seems)

(And you'll see the video but I didn't have much trouble against her. Praise Solrock for being so good in the early game)

(Lita getting the kill was awesome)

 

Let's go back and talk about the whole of chapter 3.

 

Spoiler

This is not the mansion we see in chapter 9. We visit the same mansion in WLL and it is the condition it was in at that time. So where is this place? I think it's a bit misleading to say that we were in Gearen City in the past either as we do not know how things went down. The biggest thing that gives a headache is what is the truth and what is a lie? The opening segment is one such instance in which we don't know what happens when a doll is offered nor when a human is. We either assume time was rewound for the prologue with a different outcome or people don't die and come back not remembering it. The only reason we actually know it's in the past is because of Anju being there. Also speaking on Indy, I'm pretty sure he's alive. Does anybody actually know how to stay dead in this game? Jesus this is Kiseki all over again.

(Same old Venam...still don't like her)

(Oh boy this thing is still here)

 

You know that odd thing that's in the room that nobody feels comfortable talking about. That's the noose right there. I know people are free to do whatever they want and this would be a completely different story if the noose was on the other side of the statue. It's the hanging of a small kid that really is a subject that shouldn't be handled so carelessly. I really think focusing on the scene having Mosley about the get the living shit beat out of her is more fitting as she is kind of asking for it.

(It's Brock, president of Kanto)

 

Didn't realize this detail but...wait doesn't this break the laws of canon...I have a headache now. Okay, I'm going to break this down for a minute and tell you Looker is in this game. Looker is also in BW which BW2 takes place a year afterwards which has Brock who doesn't look too much older than he did in Gen 1. If Brock is really old then Looker should practically be dead. It gets better. This game takes place sometime after Reborn which one of those leaders is the sister of Bugsy. You might be able to worm your way out of the Looker issue, but good luck with that one. Let me just do some numbers real quick:

 

Let's assume Bugsy is 14 in Gen 2 and Brock is uhhh 15 in Gen 1 making him 18 in Gen 2. Let's really stretch it and say Shelly was born when Bugsy was 20 making Brock 24. Shelly would be 13 when Reborn happened making Brock 37. Assuming Rejuv takes place like 5 years after Reborn, that'd make Brock 42. Let's assume Looker was 20 in Gen 1 so he'd be 47 in Rejuv. In other words, being canon with stuff can be a real pain. I didn't even realize this issue until working on this chapter. Also how did this...oh right I went back to heal and did that. Right. Or was it 'cause I wiped.

(How did I...)

(Oh yeah. I had a lot of mons weak to grass on me. That was hell)

(Oh joy I love facing rivals before being able to reach the town's PC)

(I had to run back to Gearen to switch Pokemon. Oh how I love cockblocks like this so much)

 

Being serious this fight isn't that bad...it just made things function in a very tedious way.

(I've always wondered how they managed to grow trees inside here)

(It's Chuck. Hi Chuck. I've missed you.)

(I don't wanna be Mercy)

 

Also a big event happened:

(Karin evolved)

 

Kind of sad I started using Karin less and less because She's worthless against Grass, Psychic I needed a good team to handle the 12v12. Souta I used the Sand Squad to win, and she's not useful at all against Rock given the field. Ground is probably going to on the desert so I pray she gets use against the Dark gym leader.

(I guess there would be a purpose for having a gallows there...on the opposite side)

(I wouldn't say took care of but they're busy right now)

(Zit waz zin ze writting. Did zhi mention zat ze Geara ez ze enemy to distances zof large quantities?)

(Also zwat am Zhi doing here with ze baby again. Zi can't stand redoing zit like zis)

(Same old Geara the worst Team Xen exec. Oh...That reminds me I have to go back)

>(Zis Commander person ez zho dumb ze forgot zat zi have to speak like zis for every picture. Zow dumb can a baby like zim get?)

(Oh look it's Ren's diary. I should burn it)

(This is just so that I can say I slept in Ren's sister's bed later to him)

 

I hope that is Reina's bed or this just got awkward.

(..............................................................Let us never speak of this ever again)

 

So here's a cool little scene you probably didn't know about:

(Really cool detail that didn't need to be put in)

(And the burn of the chapter goes to Mosley. I'll give you a cookie later)

(Mosley likes to hit on people. Trust me, this joke isn't as bad as the first thing that came to my head)

(This isn't the only time you're escaped the clutches of helping me in battle)

(I don't remember this)

(Well Geara is harder than he was at least.)

(And we're going back to this whole thing again)

(Was that Mimikyu there the first time?)

(I...don't remember)

 

And this is what happens if you try to let him go first:

(Well somebody is a sore loser)

(You should because I got destroyed like so many times)

(I did get destroyed)

 

Yeah kind of weird not having these videos but I'll probably upload them all at some point or another, but I'll talk about my thoughts in them for their descriptions instead of digging around and editing this chapter with all of them.

(Well time to get out of here...)

(WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH JAN!)

 

I don't know whose decision it was to have gym leaders give TMs again, but thank you. You get so many good TMs at really convenient times instead of super late like in Reborn. Reborn has this issue of giving okay things at such a late time that there's really no point in using them.

(I guess I can talk about the strategy I used)

 

So my strat was to Sand Attack Rotom then switch into Roselia to set up two sets of Toxic spikes and possibly chip damage Rotom. I then had Kilika come in and Rock Slide everything. Though I would switch to Liepard to take the Z-move damage and possibly break the disguise. Lycanroc would rock slide hax until Dusclops which I sent Luxray in and when it went to rest I needed luck and charge to be able to finish it off. I really had nothing to handle Dusclops. Once it was down I got a really lucky run where Karin hit sing for a 3 rounder letter her finish Misdreavus off. That one was really a bit too reliant on RNG for me personally but level 35 doesn't really leave you with too many good options. It's kind of why Post Geara and Zetta is significantly easier than the early game. The game really does just get easier over time which is something that just happens no matter how much you fight it.

(............And I finally can leave this town and never come back)

 

And...

(We may as well just go through chapter 5 at this rate)

(So I got sent down here. Fun. Now I know how this segment got changed)

(Still finding these things randomly. I really hope we can get Zydoge because it's really not that OP and a pretty cool mon. It's also not hard to disable power construct either. Please, Jan. Will you consider it?)

(Well you need at least two people and no more than 4. They also have to add up to 22)

 

That'll probably go right over everyone's heads unless you played the game. I loved that game.

(And a boss battle)

 

So I actually missed some content before so here's the number one door:

(Believe it or not, this story does have significance later)

(Finally I can)

(Rise above and reclaim my title as the Chickorita king)

(Well this got changed it seems)

(...........)

(Oh, I forgot about this thing)

(Wait hold on a second. What were those books about? Oh, now I remember)

(When you meet one Blakeory you've met them all)

(I find this line amusing for some reason)

 

(Missing image talks about it being covered in golden leaves and mud)

(Well this is a nice elephant in the room)

 

So this uhh...possibly Erin. I dunno how these things work. She has blue hair now and she has white hair later. Heck if I know why. She's probably a super saiyan.

(Oh look they have new models)

(Yeah...we really didn't stand a chance)

 

I really wish we fought one now just to show how strong they are and how you pretty much are supposed to lose. I know the whole nuzlocke thing but that is an opportunity I feel was wasted not having a battle meant to be lost but has no consequences whatsoever.

(...This is a weird friendship)

 

I also forgot to do this in V9

(If you really want to know what it was...)

 

Spoiler

(And to think we spend 3 months in the bloody place)

(I don't remember it being that high...Oh well I won't say no to more power)

(Still managed to win)

 

Yeah I don't like that you need quick guard to win this fight. It's kind of implied what that Yveltal is doing and its role throughout the story but we'll save that for another day.

(Bro, you're my bro, but I miss having my own room)

(Okay, now I'm sure Jan is reading this run because that summed up my feelings around this time)

(Thank you...so much for changing this)

(Heh. I don't think Neved has it in him to stoop that low)

(...oh god it's coming back. There's a comment I want to make but that won't happen until like V11 areas. I'll give you a hint: Interceptor)

(Okay, I will take this answer as acceptable)

(And we know about this)

(And we'll be using this later...for a certain Litten)

(I'm on top of the world!)

(Yeah, we'll be going there very soon)

(He's a bit in a bind)

(._. Snoop Dog has got to let off of that stuff)

(That's uhhh...new.)

(Well that was anticlimatic)

 

Seriously I don't remember what happened but it wasn't that difficult of a fight. Not complaining but just saying.

(Think about it this way, why the hell would we crash land in an open area where everyone can see if we're terrorist?)

(Oh look someone using their status of power to actually do something useful)

 

Thank god this finally got used somewhere in a game. Seriously, why isn't that used more than it has been given the importance of gym leaders in a region.

(...I guess this dialogue is better than before. They don't seem to irritate me as much)

(Guess that takes care of that)

 

At least the dialogue makes a heck of a lot more sense now. Still don't have a lot of confidence in Crawli given these guys are his best of the best. 

(They look like they're having fun)

(.....Terajuma in a nutshell)

(Well it's nice to know where we can get a whole bunch of heart scales)

(I'm gonna need one of these for later)

(I had a joke for this, but I forgot it. Probably me berating myself. Hmm...something, something...damn you, Melia)

(I love how there's no option of swimming across XD)

(Way to make my life more miserable again, Braixen)

(Well I don't think that would've solved the...)

(This is different)

 

I kind of used Abomasnow to field cheese her because I was not dealing with Swift Swimmers. Not much else to say and I don't know how I usually manage to keep everything a close match.

(RIP Map art. You will not be missed)

(Gee, I couldn't have figured that out by looking directly in front of me, could I?)

(I swear to god Jan made them this dumb on purpose. No wonder why Angie took over the island so easily)

(It's astonishing how much trouble they have killing a single Carnivine)

(Well that happened)

(Jan really likes his Harry Potter references)

(This scene is so over the top it's priceless)

 

And yes, Nim did rip her hair out. This game really is weird at points, but hey it keeps things interesting and entertaining with the reactions. This game is weird and that's the thing I kind of like about it. I mean that reaction is way more entertaining than the everyone griping dialogue. You really need those touches for the type of style Jan is trying to use.

(...............Something tells me I should avoiding walking on this at night. You'd probably get wet and I'm not talking about falling into the water)

(Oh...I guess that's fine. Better than what I thought it meant)

(If only you could capture it. That'd solve the problem)

(Hapi really wants his cuddle time)

 

I like that little detail being added. I really like that instead of focusing on a changing the game to shape a better tone for a more serious game, it focused on really going all out on the fun and amusing moments. It's going to be a clash of interests which could be a huge turnoff for some, but I think it works. It's a cute little Hapi moment (see what I did there) which you really don't see Pokemon all that involved in most Fan-game plots other than big legend being powerful to help big bad. Do me a favor and go back and read the old screenshots because that's what I'm about to do.

 

...And while not too much has changed, I really like the changes that were done...also it's kind of hard to look at the older maps because I go "My god why did I settle looking at that" while looking at the newer maps. It's weird, man. It's like playing FFX then looking at FFIX.

(Wait...who's the he? They can't mean Damey, right?)

 

I know his full name but the nickname is growing on me. I mean some nicknames like Aelita being 'lita would make sense, but I like writing the name Aelita. Damey is also just fun to say...and would probably embarrass him.

(Definitely know who the she is)

(Well that escalated quickly)

(Zu cannot run from Ze Geara. Ze Geara remember what ze babies did and ze babies are about to get ze time out)

(Ze world...zit's as hideous as zi remember. Zit matches ze way zu look, Commander aka ze crying baby. Oh. I zee zat ze other baby is here. Ze one that passes out all ze time. Her name ez zof no importance)

(Wait how does she know Geara...oh yeah I think he said it before choking her)

(Zoh, but zi was! It zwas horrible being stuck with zese two zauzeges. Ze horrors zi ezperienzed)

(Ze gods zave zined down on ze Geara zending zus zis savior virgin. Ze Geara fucked with her...mind to get zus out. What? Ze Geara ez a gentleman and would never do zuch unholy acts to za baby) 

(But ze mind fucking had zese strange rezultz. Zi zall call it Nimcumpoop. Zwut? Ze glares zar not welcoming me well)

(Ze zulpture doez need zum work. Ze legz zar too zick. Zho zum people like zit like zat. )

(Zut up Zetta. Zis ez my monologue time. Zu'll get yourz later. Zahem! Now zit ez time for ze babies to die!)

(Now zat zi zam a free man, Zi feel a generous of many. If ze blonde comes with zus freely, Zhi zall only rip ze gutz of zwon baby, force ze fox to cook zem, and zove zem down zanother babiez throat)

(Zookie dokiez! Zen zwei zall do zis ze hard way. Even zho zwei zar facing two leaderz, za leader in training, za leader in ze future, and zat zwon guy who keeps kicking zar assez. Yeah, zis zall be an eazy victory for Ze Geara)

(Zour zilence. Zhi underzand. Zu zar in awe on how great Ze Geara ez)

(Zis ez why zi cannot talk to babiez. All zey do ez zout and fight. Zit is pathetic to watch. No matter. Zi zall end you all in zis battle)

(...And let us never speak of this)

 

There's an old saying "You can't fool anyone with the same trick twice" which should be saying if it isn't. The last Xen Exec we faced was Madelis and we face Zetta later. I think the fight went a little overboard with the difficulty. Geara's Pokemon imo are the hardest hitting Pokemon in the game. That sound crazy, right? First off, you probably don't have a full team at the cap leaving a bit of level difference which in the 40s is a huge deal. Second, he's the first boss to make use of sticky web which whatever chance you have at outspeeding him will go down the drain with that. That lets his slower Pokemon get more hits in which includes A Marowak with thick club and I believe a LO Clefable. There's also a Groundium-Z Krookodile and a Telluric Seed Persian (while the weakest still hits decently hard including a very dangerous slash and burn). This is topped with a LO Gengar with Sludge Wave and Energy Ball.

 

Probably can see why most of the bosses afterwards up until the big fight kind of felt like a joke (besides Angie which is a different story) because they couldn't even reach near the level of damage Geara could. If you don't have priority for that Gengar, you may as well give up now and try to find a strategy to win with the wild mons on the island because you can't leave it yet. You can't even change the difficulty if you needed to. Then again, that's such an inconvenient system. Luck should really start a phone service or something at this point. I used a Telluric seed to get by which I don't think is available at this point. Also, it's a synchronize Xatu so no Magic Bounce tactics either before you say that. Val, Geara, and Ren should definitely be on the "lay off on the difficulty" category (mostly Geara) because we are in a situation where we are locked out of most of our utilities to prep. We don't have the move relearner (or the daycare) nor do we have access to many wild Pokemon.

 

I'm going call this a "box" problem. Let's assume you have a box in which you don't know what's inside. There's a 50% chance that there's cheese in there. All you have to do to pass the test is eat the cheese then. Let's say you open the box and there's a radioactive rat in which if it bites you, it'll kill you, but you don't know this other than seeing an aggressive rat. The smart thing to do is get up to somewhere you can avoid it until you can think of something to deal with it. Your solutions are limited to whatever is within reach. If however you knew what was in the box, you could easily prepare for it and have an easy time killing the darn thing. The problem with "Box" problems isn't difficulty but the situation you can be stuck into. If handled poorly, you could lose quite a number of players who would normally have finished the game. That's kind of the reason I stopped playing Rejuv in the first place.

 

How do you solve "box" problems? It's actually really simple which is an old technique that greatly reduces the chance of this happening. The first method is to have a gate. This is often a boss who is much more difficult than bosses or fights during the "box" segment. If you can't get past the gate, you can't get stuck in the "box." The best example of a gate off the top of my head (sorry for using this but it's something easy to refer to) is Redux's Dev corp entrance fights. Your first put into a double battle partner fight with two opponents who are quite strong and both slightly stronger than any of the box fights. You then fight a 6 v 10 against two orderlies who aren't as tough but have a lot of mons to take down. The fights during the Dev Corp segment may feel lacking but they actually are still stronger than Reborn's. They just feel easy because you are so prepared they can't really prevent progression. You may get a slight distaste if things go from hard to easy but a distaste doesn't usually stop people from continuing on.

 

The second method is actually cooler to do...literally. It's simply to do something unorthodox with it. I think the best example of why it works is Symphonia's Lloyd vs Kratos. It's a 1v1 that was hyped throughout the story and while it's one of the easiest fights in the game everything around it just leaves for such an impacting and memorable moment making it one of my absolute favorite boss battles of all time. Instead of focusing on the fight being hard or meeting the quota, take a different approach. Most of my favorite fights are because of the story behind it and not the fight itself (which is why the Deagan fight is way, way above anything in Rejuv as my favorite fight. 2nd place isn't even close). Favorite Reborn fight probably would have to be the second Solaris fight. I also really liked the Texen fight a lot.

(Ze cheating baby beat me. Zoh how would zhi have ever guessed zuch a predictable outcome)

 

At this point I can't tell if people are excited or dread when Geara comes up as I have to torture myself to come up with all this cringy stuff. I still don't know how I haven't run out of materials for it.

(Zhi doubt zis battle ez za win, but how ez blondie lasting?)

(Adam, the strongest member is facing Carnivine...shouldn't that be Braixen there?)

(To be made za fool by ze inferior member. Zhi must swallowed ze pride zof the pridest man and as for ze help of ze inferior exec. Help me, inferior exec!)

(If zu don't, zhi will personally rip off zat hand and open ze portal myself)

(Sigh...this isn't going to be fun)

(Oh right I still have to fight this)

 

So here's a funny story: I assumed there wasn't a PC in the rift like with Galvantula so I prepped a team meant to handle both then I realized I didn't have a bug type...other than Silvally so here's Silvally actually managing to be useful...which is very short lived. I want to like it but it's just not doing it for me.

(Zho no. Ze humiliation zwei feel for zuch a predictable outcome of zis battle. Zwhat will zwei ever do?)

(Zoh wait, zwei still have ze upper of hands. Zis ez unfair zerefore zi zall do something to help zu out, blonde zowflake)

 

I want you guys to just imagine Geara and Eli switching roles. Admit it, it'd be amazing. 

(Ze wetnezz in zi pantz tellz me zwei zar on Terazum Island, no?)

(Zi have za way to make zis work. Lizent to ze wordz of ze almighty Geara.)

(Do zu zee zis zulpzure. Zit ez ugly. Zho ugly zit zould be changed back. Zis ez not art. Zis ez just shit)

(But zince zis ez ze only way to succezz, Zhi zall handle looking at zuch a monstrozity for za while longer. At least until ze blonde zowflake ez tight in zour hands)

(Zwei must be going. Bye-bye, babiez. And remember to bring spare clothez into ze void when zu visit zhere)

(Oh ze zowflake zincs ze can get what ze wantz. Did zu know zat Geara wanted za toy robot when ze was a kid. Did zi get zat robot? NO! Life doez not give zhu what zhu want. Zo zhu best zut up and get over zit)

(Zho ho ho! Zu zinc zi'd be dumb like ze idiotz with me zand not have ze plan of escape ready. NO! Ze Geara always haz a plan. Zat ez why zhi didn't uze ze ultimate weapon at my dizpozal.)

(Now, Dragon Princess Chicken Warrior! Take zus zu zaftey)

(Geara using those Giratina Sue powe...oh fudge I forgot to do Frenchera again. What is wrong with me today?)

(At least somebody waited for me)

(I...almost lost 3 times...)

(...We're going to because we're almost hitting pic 999)

(Eh, I'd say it was a mid tier battle. If you want a huge battle, play any of the Part 4 Radiant Dawn maps. Reinforcements. Reinforcements everywhere)

(And we're ending on that note)

 

I'll be making all the leaders up until Angie public once I reach that point. I'm not going to be doing videos after that though unfortunately because I don't want to keep worrying about the constant audio issues like I have been especially worrying about retries which adds to the chances the audio could go into corrupt mode. I seriously tried everything and fixed all audio issues but RMXP. As for chapters themselves there just wasn't much to talk about since I already went through this but there were a bunch of minor changes worth writing down and I did keep some pics as trackers to where I was at. But hey, a chapter is a chapter. 

[DerogatoryTrainer]

Jesus Christ my run looks so outdated now with all these map changes.

 

Not sure I like how the aftermath of the Demon Carnivine, the original where they say "wow that was fast" seemed more appropriate to me.

Because it's just a fucking Carnivine.

 

Although it's better that he used Giratina to escape instead of his bullshit force powers.

Still doesn't explain how Geara was able to train his Pokemon in the void.

[Commander]

On 2/13/2019 at 6:51 AM, DerogatoryTrainer said:

Still doesn't explain how Geara was able to train his Pokemon in the void.

I actually think it would have been funnier if their Pokemon were really weak having Geara get owned. Personally thought there were too many hard battles and not enough joke battles.

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Chapter 55: Frenchera's Biggest Hit

 

So it's been a while. Also that feeling when this still has more views than the mod and I've certainly spent more time on that. Why people find amusement in some crazy man getting angry over a fan work I'll never understand, but it's more logical than my ability to drop stuff. I can drop stuff, but the thought of not seeing something 'til the end bothers me more than the fatigue it usually brings. It's just like those French Dips subs from Arby's. I don't like them, but I still eat them because they taste so weird. I'm probably that weird kid you met in high school you didn't want to associate with. Not creepy, but it took people time to warm up to me. I miss those days. Now I'm more boring.

 

And just to reiterate I really don't bite so don't be afraid to really say or ask anything...so long as it falls withing the guidelines within the community. I make a fool of myself daily. I don't have much hide. Hell you could insult me and ask a question and I'd probably still answer the question. I probably know what many people have thought at some point. I'm egotistical, arrogant, full of shit, think everyone's opinion is wrong (cause they are), has a sense of humor drier that the Sahara Desert, and a contrarian. Hell, some of you probably think I'm a homophobic. I don't condone people speaking like that towards others, but I'm much more against deleting these posts. They should be given a warning point for doing that, but I don't think their post should be deleted. People are going to say hurtful things and judge you and there's nothing you can do about it. And it doesn't matter if the post is gone because the person probably read it or will find out. Oh well.

 

So I can't stop people from calling me whatever they want. Hell, they could claim that in my spare time that I'm a 220 pound guy in a leotard doing Beyonce's "Single Ladies" dance. The smart thing to do is ignore them, but I'm not smart and sometimes the other guy isn't either. Someone like me just rolls with it. If you throw what is an intention of harming or hurting you into something that is something positive or beneficial, the guy is less likely to do it. Most of the time this stuff ends up being harmless to you, but I'm aware of the times it can be harmful. You can twist things around to be positive or even a game. Let's say 20 people hate on the run on Discord (I know it's not that many). Not only is that free advertisement, but it also means that it's worthy enough for someone to bother reading or acknowledge just to hate on it. And if 20 people hate it, imagine how many people like it. I could be upset or mad about the comments Yeetder made or I could be thinking about how I could use this as source material for a joke. Though it is fact that Yeetder is responsible for the interceptor idea and I do not approve of such a concept.

 

And I don't even know where the hell my mind comes up with some of the things I say. It just happens. Now back to the run:

 

(Well you see...it kind of had a deadly disease. I was just doing you a favor)

(Is it okay to let these people guard the gate?)

(Aww...that face change is cute)

 

So I should at least go more into the negative aspect of these animations. The game is still stiff and they don't really give off the emotional impact as they should. I still think it's a good and much needed change. I'm really the type of guy who is understanding. I know you're working with RMXP which has a lot of limitations. I know Jan is just some guy who was making this as a hobby and probably loses more than he gains out of this (that's a rant for another chapter though). I know that making Rejuv is not an easy thing to do. You can only do so much. I will almost always give more positive feedback on someone who really tries to fix an issue even if it fails over someone who half asses it to fix the problem. You can really tell Jan is trying and I really, really do appreciate that. That does not mean someone else (a greenhorn) could hop in and say that the animations are really hurting the experience and slowing it down. I do not think that btw. They aren't wrong as it's their opinion but they could bring up good points that I wouldn't probably notice. I'm not this deity who finds flaws in a game to make them perfect. I'm just some guy ranting about a fan-game. Anyone could do what I'm doing and I'm sure they might even be able to do it better. In fact, I'd welcome it because they'd be able to see things I couldn't and more insight certainly doesn't hurt.

 

...This is going to be one of those chapters, isn't it?

(Did I talk about the A/C story? Nah, that's for another chapter if I haven't)

 

Val doesn't get many changes, but she got a much, much needed additonal scene you'll see in the next chapter. I get the complaining about humidity because when it's really humid it's very annoying to someone used to colder climates. I felt like I was going to die in New Orleans and it wasn't even past like 8 AM where things start getting real hot real fast. It drives you insane. I think her character was too focused on her trope which really doesn't make her much of a character. But if you had to axe characters, Val would still be one to remove. 

(Oh if you stand here you can get past that Vileplume tile and get the item behind)

 

Sometimes I take screenshots for errors then forget about them like this.

(Yeah...I'm not doing that the official way)

(This better be a good reward)

(I totally got them the "legit" way)

(What a shitty reward)

 

I'm really against events that I think use a real time clock (maybe it's the in-game clock) as people don't play an RPG daily unlike something like Animal Crossing which is done in short spurts. You're not playing an RPG to do tedious stuff like that and is often a turnoff and I'm sure most people don't even know you get mulch from this girl. The bigger issue I have is a sidequest very, very late into the game where you have to plant and grow some rare berries not findable anywhere. You have to do it to continue the sidequest story. This bogs down the sidequest where doing it the right way is so tedioius it's better to drop the quest entirely. I'm sure people would rather spend 100k Poke to skip this tedious process. I'd spend like 300k on it personally. That should really tell you something. Definitely think you should make a berry vendor but you have to work to unlock it instead of having to grow berries. Maybe a shard to berry exchange for those specific berries. Just something.

(Oh. This)

(Good thing I still had a Happiny)

(...Well that's useless to me)

(And that's pricey)

 

I do catch a couple Pokemon but Kangaskhan was my main focus.

 

Then there's this girl:

I...don't think I need to say much. It's filler which filler is fine, but there's just not much else so I'm just posting it for people to look at. There's nothing wrong with it as monologues can be very interesting, but rarely are. Oh god that brings up the weirdest character I ever created. He's original character was strange then there's the rewrite which it isn't far off from this:

 

Character1: "Speaking of demon children, this reminds me of this one time during the war..."

Character2: "Here we go again"

Character1: "It had been days since I had been separated from my group. I thought god had given me mercy today, but he has no mercy for a sinner like me. Two of the ugliest black creatures saw me and slowly crept forward. Ugly ain't quite the word to describe them. When their mamma gave birth to these demonic things, she said 'Oh hell no!' kind of ugly. I would've shot them on site, but I was out of bullets. Fortunately, Ms. Slugger and Mr. Pain were ready for some action. Those are the only guns I ever needed. You'd think Ms. Slugger was in an abusive relationship with how Mr. Pain was hammering that creature. Ms. Slugger wasn't about to beat by her husband as she made a masterpiece of the other one. Those things never saw it coming and disappeared with minutes. Next thing I remember I woke up in an oasis and my pants were missing."

Character3: "Wait, what?"

Character2: "He's drunk. Just nod your head and agree with him."

Character1: "I ain't drunk. Y'all are nonbelievers."

 

Guy beats two creatures to death with his fists. I usually have a few unused character skits in my head in case I need fluff as a transition. Cool thing about out there characters is that they don't have to make sense especially if they're one-off characters. The substance doesn't matter. I mean this guy has like 5 scenes out of at least 100 to give you an idea. If you don't like it doesn't matter since you only see it once. It's a big low risk, high reward situation. But this is absolutely fine as nobody would've expected that much from something like this anyways. 

(That's a really good items if you do breeding like I did)

 

Now for a sidequest change:

(Hmmm....where have I seen this before?)

 

I think this is a very pure coincidence than a ripoff from Reborn which had something very similar. This event was originally about a Tropius egg that got replaced by another grass type. I don't think Jan saw the Bulbasaur idea and decided to use that again. Easy to assume that though especially with how they're trying to breed them into the wild.

(That...answers my question of why the mom didn't attack)

(Well it's better than AA)

(...Well there goes finishing up this quest soon)

(...Thinking on it, why is this even here?)

 

Someone want to explain to me about these guys. They're weak, they aren't always in the most convenient place, and you really don't get anything out of it unless it's on the TV or something. If Rejuv was lacking in content sure but there's so much content that I really don't see the reason of throwing this in. Not everything has to have a purpose, but I do have to throw in Chekov's gun. If it really doesn't add any value it should be omitted.

(Well that's...a weird place to get it)

(I guess the new layout is better. Less confusing at least)

(Yep. Still doing this apparently)

(Not much changed)

 

So let's revisit this grand old scene:

(.....Honey, nobody took you seriously already)

(I can already see the tomatoes coming my way)

 

I don't hate Melia to start off. Any time I say that it is purely a joke about how much I dislike how her character was handled at the beginning. I don't like her character and I think she's average at best. At best. The issues I'm going to talk about are ones that cannot be fixed. There's five steps to building a character: the intro, the buildup, the climax, the descend, and the conclusion. This is grade school stuff you probably have seen multiple times when writing a narrative. You don't really need experience in writing to know what I'm about to say nor am I really going to into it all. I'll just at least use it when describing Melia.

 

Melia is the main character or shares that role with the player. I don't even know if the game knows who the main protagonist is. Hell, I don't even know for sure who the main antagonist is and I've played to the end of this version. Writing a character is no different than meeting someone for the first time. Melia is introduced just fine. Though the only thing we really learn is her name. She doesn't really stand out due to all the noise in the background. This makes it worse as they have no connection to the player. The game tries an attempt to make that connection as this girl you just met is now your friend. The game is just telling you this. We then skip to here and the game tells you what happened to her. This isn't a sin and can work quite well in writing. The issue is that this girl who we're told what we're supposed to think of her now became the main focus. Up until this point she could have been a box of cornflakes and the story would have turned out the same. She has a really weak which was then tied up with a really weak buildup. It's sad as she has a pretty okay climax but up until that point she's no different than a box of cornflakes.

 

And before you say it, this has nothing to do with a big cast. I'd put more of the blame on the silent protagonist than onto Melia. There's a reason why that thing is dying out. Anyways, let's just remove child Melia out of the equation and treat new Melia as a new character. You have so much to play especially given the way she acted like as Emma. There's quite a bit to work off of. All of that gets resolved within minutes and Melia kind of just turns back into this nice girl who struggles with uncertainty. There's nothing wrong with that but her true introduction pretty much is on the ship. That's the first time we meet Melia, the main character. I know half of you are confused and the other half are angry and think I'm wrong. Some of you are confused and angry. There's probably a term for this but you probably aren't going to find this on any site or book so if you're going to pay attention to anything I say, let it be this. (It could be but I don't think it's common to talk about).

 

Having a character appear earlier into the story is not that character's introduction. It is not a sin to do this. A character introduction is when you know who that character is for the rest of the story. That's why I think it's safe to say Young Melia and Melia are separate characters. Young Melia's story can explain some background knowledge of Melia, but it is not Melia's backstory. The moment Melia disappears from Amethyst Cave all the way to the ship conversation is Melia's backstory. How does this make Melia behave the way she does? There's stuff, but I can't particularly answer this question well or give a solid answer. The game just tells us stuff and we're supposed to feel off of that. The other issue is poor character chemistry. I'm not talking about romances.

 

Now I've talked about this before but I will keep saying the cast is more important than what's going on in the story. A poor cast will never make a good story. Now what is character chemistry. The simple idea is when you put two or more characters in a situation, what kind of reaction you'll get. Now let's look at our available roster at this point: A player character who may as well become a walking door, A blonde leader who acts tough but is unsure about everything, A purple haired girl who acts before thinking, A quiet man who is tough but gripes, A blue haired girl who hates heat, and a talking fox who "might" be free spirited but wise. You're not going to get much of a reaction out of this. Let's just say I have a pretty good idea why people really like Erin.

 

So what are the best way to get reactions? It's having traits that contrast each other. Contrast brings conflict and it is coming to terms with that conflict is how we understand the characters better and connect with them. A simple one is a leader dealing with someone who doesn't obey orders. Maybe there's a point where the disobedient guy puts everyone else in danger. What's going to happen? The obvious guess is that they'll come to terms and start cooperating more. What if it turns into a situation where they have to kill the guy? That'd be a surprising, but not unexpected outcome. It's often why rivals turn into the best characters in a works. Like minded characters are interesting as that's when you play on the small differences. Why is it important to do this? It really helps accelerate the rising action.

 

Character bloat and weak characters are not mutually exclusive and you can throw these arguments at Reborn as well. I want you to think real hard on this one. How many times has one character disagreed with another? Of those times, how many of the disagreements lasted longer than a scene? It's a bit sad but all the ones that I come up with revolve around the antagonists. Saki is up for debate though. This just kind of got glossed over. There's a lot of issues but there are moments where Jan somehow gets it together to make something really work. I'm going to assume it's the grand scale of the story also causing issue as you have to focus on moving the plot along to explain all of it. I can already see fan boys throwing torches at me when I say I think the GDC arc is worse than the Terajuma arc. I like more scenes and I like the characters better, but it's worse than the Terajuma. One step at a time though.

(Oh hi, Aelita)

(Why are you spinning on a rock)

(So yeah this got changed a little bit)

 

There's so many ways to approach this topic and Aelita already lived this experience so I kind of wish she shared her own wisdom on the matter. This reminds me of the old raccoon story. Basically one character was giving the choice of killing a raccoon or letting it escape. If he killed it, then he'd have food and survive and perhaps down the line raise a family at the cost of whatever family this raccoon would have. The opposite would happen if he let the raccoon escape letting himself starve perhaps to death. Before the student can answer which choice is right, the teacher shoots and kills the raccoon. The teacher had a simple point: it didn't matter what the student thought or knew because that raccoon was going to die regardless. And yes, that lesson does get applied later.

 

So we have this scene here. What value does it bring? You could say absolutely nothing as the characters act like nothing happened. Scenes like this are actually very, very important. They often help show character growth. Unfortunately there's still not much to show as Melia is about the same as she was on the boat. I could see it show Melia's insecurities but that is actually done better later. I can see why people say it's pointless, but it's just fluff that adds no value. It'd be better if her character was reflected off of this conversation but that's something really hard to show. It is what it is. Better than before, sure, but not quite up to expectations.

 

Scary thought, but those two could have been deleted if the teleporters broke mid transmission. It's unfortunate we still have to deal with them.

(Good thing he didn't interrupt a lady)

(Do I go for the low hanging fruit here? Nah, I'm not that low)

(When you get older you start doing that stuff more)

(Whelp I must've missed some dialogue. Oh well)

 

Kind of the same dialogue as before so really not much else for me to say. Probably better though.

(I like it better when you're dead)

(...........This ain't KH. Stop with the obvious foreshadowing)

(Yeah...still doesn't make sense why we only fight him)

(Same as before it seems)

(It'd be so cruel if it was a Tropius Egg. You should change it back to a Tropius Egg...or Chikorita)

(I swear this quest gets dumber and dumber each time)

(Sigh...why is it always like this)

 

I want you to look at my team then take a guess what happened:

(Wow I really got my butt whooped)

 

Still don't like this fight.

(.................I have no idea what fight this is from. I think it's from the Novae fight which was hell. Yeah, that's the Novae fight)

(........Getting charge beam as the big reward just isn't the same as a Magnemite)

(Yeah...no, I don't think this got changed. Maybe someone can check as I did screencap the old version)

 

Oh finally new stuff. I'll at least be able to really get into this.

(Well she's a dragon princess warrior for a reason)

 

People who played the game were probably laughing their asses off. Sometimes I get ridiculously close with these theories and speculation. I was pretty close on the Aelita thing. Just the thing I didn't understand is something you wouldn't know ahead of time.

(She's a strong independent...uhhh...waifu?)

(this has more meaning to it)

(Zetta being suspicious of Jenner)

(Eh, probably is bored and maybe got a promise from Geara)

(This also explains one other thing...very weakly)

(...You have no idea)

(This got me thinking about something in V11)

(He can hear everything. Eyes everywhere)

(Eh. Zetta would probably be fine)

(Terrible...but not in the way you think)

(I mean if anyone in this band is gonna get replaced, it'd probably be Geara tbh)

(Jenner is just as cruel of a man)

(Oh the double meaning here)

 

So let's just make this one big spoiler

 

Spoiler

It's hard to really tell if Jenner is referring to the Storm Chasers or Team Xen but he really is on his own side trying to resolve this. He knows what's going to happen which is why he does the things he does and cares little about the repercussions. This is going into tinfoil hat theory but I think he did this all on purpose to get himself killed. Just think about it for a moment. Why would he make Zetta distrust him even more? I don't know if the Storm Chasers are good or bad, but those surfers are part of it I'm sure. I don't really care about them though. They just aren't compelling characters.

 

I do think it was really a bad move to make Jenner a Storm Chaser (aka a triple agent) and to kill off him and Zetta as the two really could have delivered some really, really good scenes but they are going to be gone soon which really is kind of a disservice. I honestly think Geara being killed would have left a more interesting situation as you have two characters who are really shaky and could defect. Of course there's the whole souls thing but trying to explain all of this would give headaches. We'll get to that discussion on the mountain and yes, that will be a lot of rants.

(Not much changed)

(.............................................................................................................................)

 

JAN! If you look towards the piano you'll see two very odd white tiles with blue lines. You may want to fix that. Actually people reading this, could you just copy and paste error screenshots to Jan in the bug fix post. I'd do it but I'm dead tired by then and don't even think about it.

(I misread happy as crappy...that would be an improvement to Crawli's character)

(There is no plan tomorrow)

 

I'm actually kind of disappointed this dialogue got changed. It's minor but Adam pretty much speaks out before anyone could say anything in this one instead of cutting Valarie off. The old one was way more in character as Adam was quiet but quite the listener and understanding from what I got. It's not that big of a deal.

(Yeah, I picked terrible. I really was going for negative reactions from Melia...yet I still got her happy reaction later)

 

(Yeah, we don't need to hear this again)

 

I still hate Venam so...

()

()

()

(More like years at this point)

(...She's a gym leader. She gets paid to be an asshole running away from her responsibilities)

()

()

()

()

()

(This conversation never happened)

 

And it took me a while to find this guy:

(I can't tell if he has 4 different spritesets or just one hair color for each direction. The former would be a nightmare to event)

(Not this again)

(...That one never gets old)

 

Yeah...his battle is kind of really, really easy on intense. I'll eventually get all those videos out...probably after Angie and just link the playlist. I'm probably just going back to screencaps after that. Here's the issue: the rng and my mons are just too unreliable that I can't really beat it in one or two attempts which I need to do or the audio starts going crazy. I really don't want to prep that much for it either. Sorry, but I just don't.

(At least you didn't make me go all the way back...for what it's worth)

(Is it me or does Aelita joining feel even more forced than the first time)

(What are the odds of freezing the screencap right at the exact same place three times for Rorrim B which I realized is Mirror backwards)

(And that is uhh...somewhat different. I don't have to talk about it, right? Right?)

(Well they can only remember 4 moves so...probably not)

(You do realize we have a talking Braixen that acts like a person, right?)

(I have so many questions right now)

 

I know I was supposed to get something out of this, but I don't really know what.

(...........Does it mean it's time)

(Come, Sir Pearl. We shall ride the tides like no man on a slug has done before)

(Yes, they appear in fan-games everywhere since Reborn E3)

(Be careful how you answer this question. Your manhood is in jeopardy)

(He's a smart man. He looked death in the eyes and ran)

(Uhhh....)

 

You know when you dislike something but kind of miss it since it's gone, that's irrational angry Melia with me. It's better, yes. I really don't have complaints at all. I don't think you should change it. It's just that weird thing that was so wrong, but because it was facepalm worthy I miss it. Ren acting the way he did does make sense as he just saw a dead girl walking.

(Go back a few chapters. It'll explain itself)

 

Seriously, that was just way too conveniently close. If you want to use the random stuff I spout out then by all means use it. It's more likely a pure coincidence than someone saying that this was a good idea to explain why Ren is the way he is. But if you are going to listen and include one thing I say which is as stupid as it sounds let it be this:

 

You have a book club which it doesn't matter the location. I don't care how you do it, but have Damien be forced to join it for a day and read a passage from a new hit novel "50 Shades of Texen" written by yours truly, Texen Risa. I will personally write a chapter for source material just to see Damien read out loud something like this:

 

"I knocked on the door three times. Here I was so young and innocent meeting a remarkable yet gracious man. As the door slowly opened my heart pounded faster and faster. I wanted to gaze upon his magnificent orange hair, but I was aroused by his sweaty muscular body. 'First time?' he asked. I could do little more than nod my head. He invited me inside. I couldn't wait to find out what a breakfast from Portugal was like."

 

And I'll answer the questions you want to ask me: "1" "Sober" "Don't" "Yes"

 

But seriously, don't put that anywhere. For the one person who actually understands, I feel sorry for you. Now back to the normal stuff.

(Too bad that teleporter isn't fast travel. It'd make going back and forth from here easier)

(He should start doing that less. That's how he got into this mess)

(It's because she doesn't give a damn)

(This is where things changed a little bit)

(He's really just a coward...though I'd do that too considering I wouldn't have any Pokemon. But nooo...I somehow pass out and people mug me of my money)

(I don't know if that was changed but I like the little bit of satire in the game)

 

I prefer golden girl as an insult myself. It's a really fitting name actually.

(...I pretty much own him in the most unfair situation so...aren't I the strongest?)

(Somehow we manage to do thi...they do realize that goes to a small lab easily reachable by Togekiss, right?)

(Just the dialogue for the opposite option from what I chose)

(Here's a fun little thing you can do. I don't believe they have dialogue)

(Not sure what this does for relationship points either)

 

Well that's something of a disappointing chapter. One issue with taking so long is that I forget stuff that I was going to say. I know I went on a huge long rant about Zetta before and I know it improved but I don't remember how it improved. I've said most of my pieces and you can pretty much figure out what I'd say at some points and if it's so little I might opt out. I do the run like this for multiple reasons. I think it's good to have a relook at stuff as even I reread it. I've just stopped doing screencaptions as much since I feel like I have not much to add. After the next two chapters it'll be a lot more natural as I'll finally be caught up. If I went at the rate I did at the beginning though, it would take me years to even make good progress into this. It's unfortunate so I do cut corners.

 

I do know something good to talk about: things that made me really want to quit the game. The first is the encounter rate. It's too high and I've complained about it numerous times. There's really no excuse for it at this point. You're telling me someone couldn't step in and look at the code to cut the chances of experiencing a wild encounter in half. That's a more important fix over the writing and the battles. Hate to be that guy but making repels easier to access doesn't fix this issue either. I like encountering and seeing the Pokemon in an area which is why I don't like using repels. I can't enjoy exploring the maps as my progress is halted so frequently and turning on repels makes exploring an area boring. I'm sorry, but it's a stupid argument saying there shouldn't be an attempt to cut the encounter rate in half. I really can't replay Rejuvenation because of this...but I am sadly because I do like doing this run. Seriously just google "I hate high encounter rates" and you will see storms of threads of people raging about games with high encounter rates. I don't feel like getting deeper into this.

 

The other thing I whine about was certain battles being way too tough. I've ranted on this before but I want to make this really, really clear because I don't think the people who make these fights have an understanding what I'm saying. I don't give a damn how climatic a battle is. The hardest battle in the game should not be pretty much at the halfway point. The rest of the game isn't even close to that difficulty. I'm talking about Geara and Zetta. There is no singular in the game even near the difficulty this battle throws. You can't throw optional battles at me since they're optional and you can go back and face them when you're stronger. My issue with those fights is you are given no sign these are superbosses more or less. Not actual superbosses, but you get the idea. Would you expect random grunts to be a superboss? Hell no.

 

You could call me some butthurt guy ranting about some fan-game, but I said I don't care. I mean I do, but not enough to go out of my way and try and make people think otherwise. Here's the thing: you may hate me and probably want to murder me whenever I'm right. Do you think I'm honestly happy when someone points out flaws or complains in stuff I do? Hell no as sometimes it means putting more hours into something to fix it. Nobody likes putting more work to redo things they've done. This is gonna be a bit of a wake-up call to some of you. When you ask people for their thoughts, they don't give you their thoughts. People don't like hurting others...in general. I don't like doing it. When you make something public, you deserve praise as well as the right to be ridiculed. I know I've said this story as well, but if anyone ever tells me something shouldn't be changed because most people say it's fine and that reason being that it's on the Discord chat. The majority of the fan club is going to be skewed in a single direction. Even on the criticism side they will all generally agree upon the same things. Some of the criticisms might actually not be a good thing to listen to.

 

When you don't agree upon the general opinion, your opinion gets ignored and thrown out. It's how debates work. Two people argue the same thing over and over again not listening to their opposition. I don't like debating but I sometimes still do when I know I can win. But here's the thing that happens: whenever something from the norm happens, the majority jump on the minority calling it out and either mocking or disagreeing with it. One of the common ones is have "terrible" teams which they get really stuck at a point. I'm usually in awe how they get that far with what they're using. This doesn't help people want to talk about the game more and will often withhold their thoughts to avoid getting ridiculed. And because people don't talk about it in a bad light, it doesn't mean it's a problem, right? Right? That's exactly why you can't just blindly listen to people and believe something is good or an issue. I openly shit on Rejuv in the Discord just to make people mad. I mean my opinion on all of this doesn't really even matter so why not have a little fun with it being that one ranting guy pissing people off for hating something they liked. Who do you think people are going to be more honest to when asked about the game: the dev and fanbase that mostly speak the positive of the game or the one random ass who speaks what he actually thinks? Though I'll admit once again I do withhold some stuff if it's not beneficial to anyone. I'd have to think about what those were and are though. That's just something to think about when making changes or decisions.

 

Well that was ranting the chapter. There's not going to be a lot of topics to really talk about, but we're getting to the good stuff. I might dive into certain topics earlier in case the Devs take input from this. One of them is going to be the Interceptor. I despise this element to the story and will probably really dive into why I dislike it and how I think such a risky plot device should be played. This is actually a serious kind of topic as even if you do like it, it could end up ruining the entire game for you. That's why I might talk about it much, much earlier than I normally would. I really am trying not to explode right now. I'm probably going to go more into why you shouldn't for those instead of going "Wrong! Wrong! Bow down to the almighty Chikorita Emperor and his kingdom." Since we're going for a chapter with a lot of text I'll end it with 10 one liner "criticisms" that'll make you sound stupid:

 

1. "There's too many characters" (You're missing a very important word)

2. "You just gotta not use all these features to enjoy it"

3. "There's nothing wrong with the game. You're the problem."

4. "There's nothing wrong with the player, it's the game."

5. "Graphics aren't important to a game"

6. "They should've gone with a silent protagonist"

7. "Dream Drop Distance has a great story"

8. "It's free so you can't be too hard on it"

9. "That idea will never work"

10. "The story is bad because it doesn't make sense"

[TDoggyDog]

Hey, just to let you know, I'm a massive fan of Rejuvenation, love it.

And I also love the written criticism and commentary on the game you do, seriously it's the only topic I'm subbed to to get notified of new updates, it really brings parts of the game a new light in my eyes and I can see some flaws I hadn't before.

I wanted to let you know what you say and do here is very much appreciated, there are less and less people willing to be critical of a topic in the middle of the forums the fans populate, for good reasons as many people's reactions to you show, especially from someone who has prior writing experience and can properly form criticism into constructive and outright advice to improve areas and parts of the game.

Just saying that not everyone thinks you're an arrogant asshole here, despite what the majority on discord may have you believe, Commander.

[Commander]

On 3/7/2019 at 6:27 PM, TDoggyDog said:

Hey, just to let you know, I'm a massive fan of Rejuvenation, love it.

And I also love the written criticism and commentary on the game you do, seriously it's the only topic I'm subbed to to get notified of new updates, it really brings parts of the game a new light in my eyes and I can see some flaws I hadn't before.

I wanted to let you know what you say and do here is very much appreciated, there are less and less people willing to be critical of a topic in the middle of the forums the fans populate, for good reasons as many people's reactions to you show, especially from someone who has prior writing experience and can properly form criticism into constructive and outright advice to improve areas and parts of the game.

Just saying that not everyone thinks you're an arrogant asshole here, despite what the majority on discord may have you believe, Commander.

I've kind of gone a bit underground so I don't think the negative stuff is as much of an issue. I'm merely saying that I'm aware of these things because I've been on the other side and see things that rubbed me the wrong way. You kind of get to a point where you just accept and embrace it. In a way, I'm partially joking about the names stuff. Do you think I'd openly state those things if I thought they were true? I do a lot of dancing between playful and serious. Besides I'm only talking about the 10% and not the 90%. I know most people are fine with it, but it's the 10% you shouldn't let bother you and have a bit of fun with them because they aren't ever going to like what you're doing. Kind of a message on the subject cause a guy like me is especially asking for it.

 

I really do appreciate everything. Views, upvotes, comments, or anything really. I am an entertainer first and a critic second which I love how I somehow became the critic guy. I guess that's to be expected as it's something I eventually get known by. I know people are here mostly for my thoughts, but I think it's always good to have some messing around just to give breaks from the rants. Humor is unfortunately the thing that dies the fastest as what is effective earlier dies off or becomes stale. I'm amazed people still find and read this in a way. I might have to start covering more obscure and harder to find information soon. Stuff that you'll have a hard time really finding on the web.

 

Speaking of criticism, you don't need to be a writer or a gamer to be a really good critic. It's all just practice and just seeing what works and what doesn't hundreds of times. I've found that showing and explaining things more thoroughly often gets the point across better even if the person already knows this. I find most critics are just kind of boring and simply say the good and bad and their thoughts. It's fair as that's all they have time for. In a run like this, that won't cut it as I have to talk about something per chapter and we'll probably be hitting the big 100 by the end. But if you some advice I can give you a couple simple things. For looking at something critically: don't ever let what someone else says drive your own thoughts and opinions initially. You gotta make sure it's you talking and not what someone thinks be what you think (this is so easy to do). For delivering criticism: Emphasize on the positives (so hard to do), use relevant pictures, and be honest. You'd be surprised at what you're capable of.

 

Now back to work:

 

Chapter 56: Saki-chan *sparkle* *sparkle*

 

I'll be amazed if anyone even knows where that's from and I'm sorry for those that do. Anyways, I think I'm going to try and do a bit of a rant/lecture at the start of every chapter now...until I get bored of it:

 

So I'm going to be blunt when I say this but don't bother getting invested in most fan-games. So here's a funny story: back when the fan-game expose just started up we had someone make a topic for a fan-game in the works. I caught on that this matched very similar to another off-site fan-games description. I didn't really say anything and the best part is that the person must have been so salty because they flat out told us they stole this from someone and called the community ignorant and stupid. Then they tried it again and got banned. If you're doing a fan-game, at least have something presentable before making a post. It takes a lot of work to build maps and such but you should be able to manage something before an announcement. I say a demo, but I suppose 25% of the content being done is a good choice. It's a lot of work and people get a bit too hasty on the idea. And hell no, I'm not interested in making a fan-game. At best I'd probably just want to do side scenario dialogue. 

 

But the investment thing is a bit deeper then the false promise of something never to come. These things take time and become outdated almost immediately. Please for the love of god if you are going to make a fan-game stop trying to become the next Reborn or Insurgence. Those are big, full scale RPGs and I honestly think we have enough for the time being. Can you just imagine there being 8 or 10 of those. We'd never be able to remember or maybe even play them all. They did the job and I really think a new type of territory should be explored. Personally, I'm not playing another long Pokemon game as I found one I liked and I don't really think any of them are really going to give me the same impact or excitement. I mean it's fun but I can't just spend another 60-100 hours going through the same thing again. And I have to for reviewing Reborn as my opinion of the game is outdated due to the content changes. I can't even tell you what vanilla Reborn is like it's been that long. That's a scary though to think about. I hear people tell me this or that is a good change, but I just have to take their word as I don't know.

 

You can only experience a game for the first time once. Technically none of us should be playing Rejuv or Reborn well I'd argue Rejuv more than Reborn. Reborn more or less gave quality improvements keeping the core experience since even E7 despite the massive amount of changes. What you experienced a long time ago is what you'll experience today more or less. I have looked at this game 4 times from testing. It's an overall more enjoyable experience of the original experience. But I'd honestly wait if you're a newbie because in a year I want to say you'd have a completed project. Rejuv is a little bit different. This is why I said new people need to be covering this game. Derog and my own opinions are outdated on a huge chunk of content. Everything we've or covered on this game is worthless or for naught. That feeling doesn't feel good to say that I spent a year and a half for nothing in a way. Oh god we're almost hitting year 2. I only redid this due to additional content.

 

Improved =/= better as of course I like improved things, but those don't affect my experience of my initial playthrough of the game. Improvements drastically changed and fixed Rejuvenation, but if you read the first chapter again, I reluctantly picked this up giving it another chance. Not matter what you do to the game most people who hate Rejuv will still view it from the lens of the version they played. Arc 1 is still a pretty bad experience for me. I'm sorry Jan, but that is a cruel truth and why I think newer players should speak out and be more vocal. Their first impression will be much, much more accurate than a long term fan. And of course I'm going to say something is better when it improves because oh dear lord you need help if the improvements hurt the game. The hard part is gauging how the improvement would have affected my first impression of that moment. This is actually a difficult concept to really understand so let's put it this way. Someone asks you what 19 x 19 is. You'd answer by either getting a piece of paper of you're me you'd add 171 and 190 together to get 361. The next person asks you what 19 times 20 is. You know 19 times 19 is 361 so adding 19 gets you 380. If a person was only asked 19 x 20, they'd most likely take a different approach than you did to solve it since they did not have prior knowledge.

 

It really is a simple concept but it does help explain why there's such a divide between me and maybe someone who played more recently. The point I'm making is about time. Time is a finite resource and most people don't want to replay a game they already played. In a way, the bulk of people aren't going to replay what they already experienced. Unfortunately, I have to because I was an idiot and didn't expect to be continue the run so I kind of have to. Not happy about that, but it does let me experience the other branch in this story. Anyways, I don't recommend investing too much time into stuff already released and playable to the public except under these two conditions: it's outdated and crashed with the new art style or retroactively change story elements of previous areas to better fit the narrative.

 

Am I saying not to fix problems with Rejuvenation? In a way, yes, but ultimately, no. Jan can do whatever he wants as it's his game. The reality is that this is a fan-game which personally I don't think they should be as good as they are. I want you to think deeply on this. The Sonic franchise noticed the fan-game department was getting better and better and instead of shutting it down, they embraced it to the point of making Sonic Mania which is a recent high point in the franchise. Pokemon is different. Full Moon, a game that is mocked, is what is kind of expected to be the pinnacle of fan works because they are made by fans, not professionals. There's just been a war going on between fans and TPC (The Pokemon Company). There's been 7 generations of rehashing the same generic formula and retroactively removing all interesting and new mechanics when making a new game. They don't really do doubles anymore, no megas, no follower Pokemon, no difficulty modes, no battle frontier, etc. Every time they do this it's in spinoffs which have dwindled down to nonexistent at this point. Hope you like Pokemon Go for a fresh, new experience.

 

You are probably wondering why and I've said it before somewhere why TPC is like the way they are. Graphics are the only concern for most modern day game devs so they really put the bulk of the effort onto that. Eye candy = $$$ in this era. Why should TPC really spend extra resources on stuff that would more likely waste money than gain profits? You don't believe me, do you? How many of you excited and going to buy Shield and/or Sword? Even if you are on the fence you are going to buy it anyways to be in the know and part of the Pokemon culture trend. It doesn't really matter how good or bad it is. USUM did sell poorly compared to previous enhance remakes so they aren't as invincible as they were.

 

How on earth do we get stuff that we really liked about the series back or really the things we want out of the games? I need you to pay very close attention as this is very critical towards doing so. The first step is to not buy the game. I know so many of you are really, really excited about the stuff they do in new gens. I want you to think really, really hard. Was that 20 hours really worth it in Gens VI and VII? Was it worth seeing all these changes and spinoff cuts? That money and time could have been spent playing I don't know one of the following: Chrono Trigger, KH3, Yo-kai Watch, DQ Monsters, SMT, LoZ: BotW, Mario Odyssey, etc. If you're in a Pokemon Community, it's like getting a gun pressed toward your head for not buying it, I get that. In fact, what I'm trying to do is a suicidal move towards Fan-games like Reborn and Rejuvenation. The next and more critical step is to get other people to do the same. Just get into a casual conversation about it and try directing them towards an alternative such as Pokemon-like games or Fan-games like Reborn. Maybe they'd be more inclined to play more in that series or donate to Ame's Patreon. And no, you won't put Nintendo or TPC in any danger even if they sold 0 copies of Sword and Shield.

 

Why do this? It's simply to show a message. Just imagine if Sword and Shield were 2 million sales under from the expected outcome. Investors and top brass in TPC would be losing their shit over this. If you think they are gonna sit there and take that loss without figuring it out, they're not. They are gonna find out why they lost 2 million and when they do, you can bet your ass they'll address and focus on those areas to keep people interested and buying the Pokemon games. It's dangerous for Reborn and Rejuv because of course Pokemon doesn't want competition if they can prevent it. Now imagine if Yo-kai watch went up in 1 million sales than expected. You don't think TPC is going to connect the dots and possibly make changes to what they've been doing to avoid this in the future? Personally, I don't care, but this is for people who want more HGSS or BW2 type games. You gotta make an impact on their finances. Why would you want to do this? Nintendo has the resources to make Reborn but better and so better that it would make Reborn look mediocre even. Let me just list some RPGs known for their stories published under Nintendo's wing:

 

Chrono Trigger, FFVI, Tales of Symphonia, Xenoblade Chronicles, Secret of Mana, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of the Sky, Golden Sun, Mother 3, Paper Mario, FE: Path of Radiance.

 

That's just off the top of my head. Point is that they could do it, but they don't need to and aren't expected to.

 

Anyways back to the content you care about:

 

(I prefer the angry Angie pic for the chapter)

(If I were to max out one girl's points in this game, it would be Valarie's)

 

Can we talk about choices? I know people rave about choices in this game or at least some people do but this is like the lifeblood of many VNs. Best one I can think to try out first is Fate/Stay Night. I know VNs get a lot of bad rep for being boring romance but you get some fun ones once in a while. I definitely recommend them more for people who can't set down and play something for hours upon hours to get something done but really are into the stories of games. Being able to save at any point and stop is so goddamn useful. Anyways the ideas behind choices in games is usually a lie and doesn't add up to much if anything at all. In fact, I've seen this trope played with and make fun of the idea in a linear styled "game". I actually laughed my ass off discovering you can get a game over at the very start of that game. But if you find something you like in one game there's often some other game that does something similar or in a way you find more enjoyable. You will eventually get bored of Rejuv and Pokemon if you guys keep replaying and talking about it. Maybe next chapter I'll make a list of games you probably haven't played but totally should.

(How and why would she be in a cave?)

(Spoiler alert: she's here, but y'all already knew that)

 

The cave I think got changed and looks better. It's hard to keep track of all these changes.

(This is new)

 

Time for a heart-to-heart:

(Yes, yes we will)

 

You can't tell me Jan didn't get this inspiration from Xenoblade Chronicles. 

(When I was a kid, I loved it. Nowadays, I hate it.)

 

Yes, I know how to swim. Sorry folks who wanted to try and drown me. Sorry, that one kind of slipped out. But yeah I took swimming lessons when I was real little. I have to wear goggles sadly because my eyes are weird. I never managed to get into the high tier swimming group purely because my goggles snapped in half doing the test thing putting me in the second lowest group for being too slow. You try swimming blindfolded and try making it to the top group. Also never could make it because I couldn't float. No really my body would not let me. I could do every stroke but just not float. But seriously swimming is the fastest way to build muscles and get stronger. If I really went for it I probably would've been swim team material but alas here we are now with me being some guy ranting about a fan-game.

(And we are finally going to get to ask a question)

(OwO)

(Basically if you're from Hoenn...you like to get wet)

(We shall call them Doug, Dave, and Virgil aka Double D with a V)

(Important question: did he have magazines? If so, I would like to meet your grandpa)

(Okay then)

(TBH, Water types are kind of a one trick pony in-game wise. It's actually really unfortunate)

(And that's her life story. Well I guess we're done here and can go look..)

(...DAMMIT MELIA LEAVE ME ALONE!)

(Now you made this awkward so you're staying here to make this...less awkward)

(...How? If Adam could get it, I don't think it takes much. No offense, but there's not much going on in his head)

(Well this is a little detail to remember)

 

So one thing different between Maria and Melia is that Maria is good at math. I don't know if this is a honey pot or not because they could still be the same character. Though how in the world is someone good with machines bad at math. The two go hand and hand often.

(...I probably was yelling at her for sucking at the most important subject)

(I'm supposed to hate you, right? But hell no. I do need to finish that ORAS nuzlocke. Damn Aron killed itself again)

 

So a little bit of a nuzlocke meme for me is that every time I catch an Aron it literally commits suicide by confusion. It happened 3 times. So far the MVP is a Spinda named Drunken Fist.

(She's like me being redundant and unnecessary just like me)

(Shark bait. That's your answer)

 

Okay, let me talk a little bit about this. I think stuff like this is good for side characters who really get pushed out of the plot. Side scenarios with them helps flesh out there characters a little bit. If you know me you know what I'm gonna say next: show, don't tell. This is why you don't jump the gun and say you want a silent protag. Writing a silent protag in the modern era is very, very difficult and a true silent protag is more or less dead and a game killer. Because of how a silent protag works the game has to really tell you these things through expository. The best way I can describe if you did show, don't tell right is when you reach the telling segment, nobody is surprised by those reveals. Shocked, but not surprised.

 

I make this sound like an easy thing to do, but it's not. The best way to describe how to do it is the quest in Trails of Cold Steel where an instructor makes the class swim again and again until they are completely exhausted and makes them do one more lap afterwards. The point was that due to them being so tired they used all their strength without wasting or giving excess which in return let them swim faster. This is something I'm going to struggle getting back into long-term writing is working writing everything out clearly and effectively. You eventually pick up what you need to do and where to build up the effective scenes down the line with the right delivery. Now here's the real kicker: there's not a damn book, professor, writer, or genius who can tell you how to do this. You are gambling on how your viewership will perceive and react towards the style you write. Human minds are not the same and you need to learn and understand what they pick up and how well to make a narrative feel and flow natural. I could tell you how I attempt it with what I do, but I cannot tell you how you should do it. And if you go into any creative works industry, you need to accept that your work will never be good enough. People will make you want to tear whatever you're working on to shreds for not getting the intended experience. If I come out bitchy or whiny with how people respond to Redux it's because of this fact. I'm not mad at you, more at myself. It's just me releasing frustration and accepting I have to revise stuff if I want to improve the experience. You just have to suck it up and keep going.

 

Maybe other people can speak for themselves, but every time I spend a long time on something including one of these chapters, there's a part of me that's terrified. How will people react to this? Will people even like it? Will it even get noticed? Some people may say those fears are unhealthy, but honestly, I think those are very healthy thoughts to have. If you have a passion for something, you put more effort towards it and more thought into it. It's unfortunate but your passions don't always align with your work so some of you may not understand. I'm sure some of you are wondering how the hell I could spend almost two years and lord knows how many hours on this run. It's because I like doing this even if I get drained and am tired at points. The same I'm sure goes for Jan. Nobody is excited to put in 80+ hours to make a 10 hour segment for fans. I mean part of it is fun, but it is very draining. If you aren't at least slightly worried that all those 80+ hours could be a waste of time, you need to check to make sure you're sane. Fear is good because it shows that you not only care, but are willing and accepting you need to improve. And while this run isn't that stressful (more like stress relief) I can certainly talk about things I was nervous to turn in or show off.

 

I went off track, but I at least had a purpose. It's nice knowing this info, but it doesn't add any value to Valarie's character imo. It's not bad or incorrectly written, but it doesn't seem into the main narrative or the world. I think it's good since it at least gives Val something which is better than her simply being a background prop. Something I learned for me to make weak characters better is putting them in scenarios where idle conversations would happen and thinking of what they'd say and react. In other words, I treat them like people. I think my brain has 1,000s of unused scenarios filed or thrown away. So what would a great flow with expository look like? I guess I'll use Val as an example. I'll then explain afterwards why this works. So everything before this happens the way it does and Val acts like a leader...except there's one difference. Whenever Saki and/or Adam aren't around she's very quiet and doesn't say much. When you meet her in the cave she starts out being very quiet then apologizes thinking that the player must see her as rude and hate them. She knows it's not the best time, but asks if the player is willing to sit down and talk. She starts by telling the player she has a hard time conversing with strangers and asks that you bear with her if she stutters or stops. She explains that she's from a city in Hoenn called Lillycove where she spent most of her childhood in a place called the trainers club. The way the talked about all these trainers and how great they were intimidated her and since she knew so little about trainers she simply didn't say much. In order to conquer her "shyness" she figured becoming a really strong trainer was the best solution so she trained mons and became so good she even got accepted into Axis High University, however, her shyness was still there not really talking to anyone. This lead to her getting bullied being called names like "Silent Val" (I'm not good at bullying people, okay). One day a boy was picking on her when he suddenly got slammed in the face by another boy's fist. The three of them get sent down to the office where Val begins talking to the boy and asks why he punched the other boy. The boy simply responded that he was asking for it. She knew deep down it was because the boy wanted to help her out even at the cost of being suspended. The boy's name was Adam and the two became really good friends after that. Deep down she knew that if she didn't speak up and keep Adam in check that he might end up doing something more reckless which is why she ended up bossing him and eventually when she joined the posse to keep them in check. Whenever they are around she feels like a different person, but when they aren't she goes back to her old "shy" self.

 

Sorry for the long reads, but this time it's needed. Yes, that would take a long time to write about, but it's important. The important thing is that this version I wrote is not needed to understand Val's character, but it expands upon and increases your understanding of her. What makes a character likeable? I was going to say they have flaws, but Melia and Venam have flaws and I care little for them. They have to feel human. Having flaws means they are vulnerable and humans connect much easier to vulnerable characters. They don't need to be very deep characters either as this is what I would call a simple character. All I gave her was simply an internal conflict which also became an external conflict with the player. It's something easy to follow the progression of without getting in the way of the main plot. What's more easy to relate to: someone who likes water and made friends in college or someone who doesn't have confidence so much it gets in the way of her communicating with others. I didn't need to tell you anything to understand the latter one as well. Telling was simply used to build upon what has been shown.

 

Now something I do have to say and this is me being brutal: people are going to tell you this stuff doesn't matter. And they are in a way right. Why invest anything into a forgettable throwaway character. At the end of the day Rejuv is a fun game and you'll enjoy your time spent. The plot and characters aren't really any good for anything beyond laughs due to how it's designed. That's okay as this stuff sells like hotcakes and people love it. Why do you think people love Venam. She's loud and obnoxious and really simple to understand. People like vibrant, but shallow characters. If Rejuv stopped with the way overboard in difficulty and stopped trying to do the serious stuff most people would view Rejuv leagues better than Reborn. Though in three years after the games are done I'm going to be more people will recall Reborn over Rejuv. I've said this before. Impact has less appeal so it sells less, but is often revered and praised more in long terms. Focus on appeal often has less impact but sells better usually forgotten when the next big thing comes out. Neither approach is incorrect, but you can see why games are going a certain direction more and more.

 

If Jan likes the way he's doing stuff, more power to him as the fans enjoy it and it's gotten a lot of support for good reason. And while I could better cover how to make the game more appealing to people who already enjoy the game greatly 1) that's redundant and won't really have any gains and 2) I'm not really interested in talking about that aspect. I mean let's take the Kiseki series and compare. I could write a much, much bigger and more in depth analysis on one of my least favorite characters from the series, Joshua, over my favorite one in this game, Ren. It's because of how well Joshua's character is written and how much depth he has. Doing that 2 chapter LP I never got to finished I learned about some neat little details I didn't notice before. If you want me to talk about the stuff I disagree with but understand, let me know, otherwise I'll be sticking to my ideals with explaining how to approach stuff.

 

Suddenly, I want to reread the Yeetder message because I think they complained about my BS math or something. I'll probably look for it when I need cheering up. It's like that weird thing that most people would be annoyed by but fascinates me so much I want to look at it again. Maybe I'll get a frame and hang it on my wall. Too bad the guy got banned. Well the fake account got banned. Would have been fun to build a quotebook from him. 

(I think I was messing with the screen size for this.)

(I don't even remember what the original looked like. Other than the missing bridge this is an improvement)

 

Oh right, the bridge got removed so you have to surf over. That was probably so people couldn't get stuck in a certain area I got stuck in. You need idiots to idiotproof stuff.

(uhhh...okay then)

 

I kind of prefer her standing over the whole bed thing. That felt more like meditation but who knows with Amber. Only she'd take a nap in a freezing cold cave.

(...Did she just disappear? Nice touch, Jan)

(We've seen this before)

(That's new. Still not as funny as B2W2's fat guy brigade)

(Okay I guess this is a little bit of a rant time)

 

You know when you go WHY? in your head. That's me with this. Why? Is it because people made fun of Saki and Melia not doing anything? I mean Rejuv needed some polishing but it certainly needed anything but more boss fights since I think this game already goes way beyond overboard with boss fights. It's kind of boring in a way. You do something then suddenly boss fight. Every lore quest has a boss fight. Walking out of the cave is a boss fight. Random trainers on intense are basically right below mini bosses. I prefer the random wild Sharpedo as it's like a special story Pokemon which has slightly more value than a random one given you experienced a story scenario with it. Too late now to change it though.

 

Actually let's do a count of the number of "bosses" (unique story trainers) each chapter:

Chapter 1: (Amanda, Ren, Garbodor, Melia, Xen Duo, Zetta, Rift Gyarados, Venam) 8

Chapter 2: (Jenkel, Nim, Zetta, Rift Galvantula, Ketta, Madelis, Spirit Keta) 7

Chapter 3: (Amanda, Rorrim B, Maria) 3

Chapter 4: (Aelita, Xen Duo, Geara, Ren, Narcissa) 5

Chapter 5: (Nim, Emma/Melia, Neved, Madame X, Rangers, Valarie) 6

Chapter 6: (Geara, Rift Carnivine, Zetta, Rorrim B, Ren, Crawli) 6

Chapter 7: (Sharpedo, Rangers, Saki & Venam, Angie) 4

Chapter 8: (Aelita, Kingdra Statues, Groudon, Kyogre, Giratina, Geara & Zetta, Amber) 7

Total: 46

 

Now out of curiosity let me look at Reborn (doesn't matter even if it matches)

Chapter 1: (Victoria, Fern, Cain, Meteor Duo, Julia) 5

Chapter 2: (Victoria, Scraggy Gang, Cain, ZEL, Fern, Florinia) 6

Chapter 3: (Taka, Taka & ZEL, Corey) 3

Chapter 4: (Meteor Duo, Victoria, Shelly) 3

Chapter 5: (Fern, Cain, Shade) 3

Chapter 6: (ZEL, Cal, Victoria, Kiki) 4

Chapter 7: (Meteor Duo, Taka, Solaris, Cain, Fern, Aya) 6

Chapter 8: (Sirius/Sigmund, Bennett, Serra) 3

Total: 33

 

I feel Reborn pushes it a bit on the overboard side but that's what I'd call the upper limit for the amount of bosses you should have. The more bosses you have the less significant the concept has. So please for the love of my sanity don't add any more bosses. LMAO I forgot Texen of all people. Add one more to the Rejuv counter. Anyways, the only fights I really even care about in the game are pretty much the gym leaders. There's just so many they started feeling the same and draining. I really kind of wish I had more time between boss fights to screw around and see how well stuff works. Rejuv really is not a game made for me and that's fine.

(...I'm contemplating if I find this kind of funny or I'm just really annoyed)

(Commander is groaning in increasing discomfort)

(Probably that one ginger from WLL)

(Get rid of "But then" here. Doesn't sound right both written and spoken)

(Jesus calm down with the "Then"s, Jan)

 

I guess if you wanted to show her excitement you could go "Then, then, then we were attacked" Starting phrases with the same word does get a bit annoying to read. If it is intentional then try to have an exaggerated intention to make it clear. I'll admit I myself sometimes get into a habit of starting sentences the same way especially hitting hour 8 or 9 on working on something.

(Probably the girl from WLL. I didn't really care for the ending. I have the whole thing saved on postimage if you're wondering about that one)

(Try writing lines for Citrine. My IQ drops one point per line of hers I write)

 

So if you're curios about the Redux characters some of the more flavorful characters are very, very scrubbed down versions of characters I've spent long times crafting. The character Citrine is based off of is one of my favorites and Citrine is pretty much a hallow shell of that. So the story behind that one is I was starting to work more onto female characters which I took the idea of what a female character was. I'm sure you have a lot of ideas what a stereotypical female is like with beauty and shopping and all that jazz. People act that way since it is what is accepted and what they grew up in society. Now what would happen if someone was isolated from those ideals growing up as a lone wolf. "Oh god, what have I created?" was the first thing that came to my mind. Not my craziest idea. That goes to a guy going on a killing spree while singing Zippadiedoodah in the most over the top style.

 

Did I talk about complex characters? I don't think I did but repeating stuff is good. For people calling me out controversing myself, it happens. Writing is an opinionated subject and you don't always put deep thought in what you do. Anyways, let's talk about the layers as complex characters really aren't that complex. What's their motive? Why are they doing it? Let's take Melia. She wants to stop the storm from destroying the world. She's doing it in part because it's the right thing to do but also as revenge against Team Xen for treating her like some toy to be used. That's the hard part. The rest is just brainstorming. This is also the fun part. Not going off of the story here's how I'd approach writing Melia:

 

This contains V11 spoilers

 

Spoiler

Instead of making her a likable main character, I'd purposely make her unlikable. She acts like a nice girl, but there's something not quite right with her. On the ship, she says she's sorry about the loss of the player's mother, but calls her mission a success managing to save everyone else from Madame X. When Nim gets captured, Melia blames herself for it, but when Aelita says they're in it together, Melia still says it's her responsibility foreshadowing a future event.

 

Then there's the future arc. You all know what happens there, but I'd make it a much bigger deal. In the end, she realizes she's Cosmo and Tiempa's plaything just like Team Xen and she's pissed and goes off on them before walking out. She doesn't really act much on it until we hit the library segment where we control Melia. When it's revealed that Jenner is a double agent, she isn't surprised at all saying she's nothing more than a doll to these people only to be used for fun then thrown away when they don't need her.

 

Obviously that's just a rushed analogy but I really like the idea of a character being nothing more than a doll. They don't need to even have a tragic backstory to feel for them. A doll is simply something a child plays with and love or even cherishes until time moves and they grow older and eventually abandon it. Some people treasure it longer than others. A doll is still a doll and is worthless on their own. They can't feel nor can they really move on their own. So Melia calling herself a doll would really be saying she's nothing more than a tool. This is a first run which first runs aren't final so let me try this again:

 

Melia had a sense of betrayal and had nowhere to run but with Spacea and Tiempa. I can't speak for the professor but she only had two real friends during this: Kanon and Crescent the latter of which abandoned her. She developed a sense of duty and was given a task to complete. It succeeded even with a casualty which is something it seems these storm chasers (pretty sure those surfer guys are storm chasers) carry out and it's sometimes something that can't be avoided. Things then go south with the whole Terajuma thing now of which Melia was on her own completely to solve this. She takes control because this was her mission and she fails miserably five times. The first is Nim being captured. The second was the Deoxys beach attack. The third was letting Ren and Stasia escape. The fourth was Angie capturing them. And the fifth was the mountain letting the player and Nim die. Her failures outnumber her successes. That would get to anyone but nobody wants to show it so she tries to hide it but she's breaking and even regretting how inhumane she treated Jenner. Last thing she told him was she hated him.

 

Melia now has to go back into the past and she doesn't want to burden anyone else with her problems. Instead of her letting Venam in, she vanishes into a crystal which the Player and Venam follow. Melia realizes they followed her and says she didn't want to burden them with her problems. Venam says that her problem are our problem as well and Melia kind of gets pushed as a background character with the focus being Venam vs Kanon being jealous of the friendships they have with Melia. She's a background character helping develop other character mostly until chapter 12 where she's the focus again. I'd probably make Melia and Erin kind of look like they hate each other. Basically the story plays out the exact shame having Melia learn something important: sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the betterment of the whole. How about after using her powers twice, it nearly kills her slowly burning her up from the inside out. Using this power might end up killing her, but not using it would let the world be destroyed. Suddenly that life lesson seems a lot more important as she decides taking the chance of sacrificing herself like Vivian did is the right choice.

 

Now we reach chapter 13 which Melia and Erin bicker a little bit as Melia goes upstairs to find some information as while I'd totally cut the interceptor part out, it still works here. Melia goes back downstairs to tell Erin and she talks to an employee who says it's nice to see Erin finally made a friend which Melia hesitates and says "Likewise." Her bully backstory is kind of pointless to me but whatever I'd mostly just have the woman say she usually sees Erin in here reading books all the time. The scenes play out the same but Melia is not surprised by any of this muttering "People only seem to want to use me." Melia then asks to battle Erin and this is what I'd write when she loses.

 

Melia: "I really am a worthless idiot after all."

Erin: "Yeah, you are an idiot."

Melia: "Hey, that's not very..."

Erin: "Are you going to let me finish or keep blabbing your mouth?"

Melia: "..."

Erin: "You're an idiot, arrogant, and your voice drives me nuts. You even managed to wipe me from existence. Thanks for that. I can call you a lot of things, but there's something I can't call you: worthless. Books are worthless. A book can't tell you everything is going to be okay when a kid throws you in a dumpster and everyone laughs. A book can't tell ask how your day is going. A book can't tell you that you've been a shitty person to one of the bravest, kindest, and loyalest people you've met. Only a friend can do that."

Melia: "Are you calling me a friend?"

Erin: "I ain't calling you nothing. But if I had to spend a crazy night in a library with anybody in the world, I'm glad it was with you."

Melia: "Awww"

Erin: "For the love of Arceus, stand back a bit. You're way too close for comfort." [Melia step back] "I swear you softies are going to be the death of me."

Melia: "Hey Erin, can I ask something of you?"

Erin: "If it's for a hug, we are not at that level yet."

Melia: "Things have been getting rough and I don't think I can do this on my own anymore. I don't know where my journey will take me but could you maybe watch my back and see me through with this until the end. A lot of people have gotten hurt and..."

Erin: "Stop. Have people told you that you talk way too much? And to answer your question: sure, why not. Somebody has to keep a dummy like you in line and given my old man is gone, there really isn't a reason for me to stick around. Now let's get out of here before the guards find us."

 

And that is how complex characters work. Everything Melia learned was reflected in that conversation. She was closed and believed everything was her responsibility really not valuing herself. Now she knows she can't do this on her own and asks Erin to help her out. It wasn't Erin that broke her out of her shell, it was Venam. All Erin did was make Melia realize she was more than just a tool like she believed. The value of her life is a key conflict that is still ongoing though and isn't resolved and wouldn't be until the end. And you all know what I did. You all know exactly what I did. And this is just me randomly spit balling something.

(...............I don't....why? Jan, not cool)

(How the hell did Val become friends with her again?)

 

Part of me want a WLL story with Val as the main character. I think it'd end up really, really good and interesting. I'd help out with it, honestly. Just don't put me in charge with random student lines because that's giving me way too much power and I would have a random (just one) student say the most random lines possible such as the following:

 

"My hands are waffles"

"My wood is made of mahogany"

"Hoenn people drink diet water"

"Dinner is an opinion"

"My uncle works like butter"

"I'm the president of ducks"

"This grass tastes like chicken"

"Salt looks good on me"

"I can talk like a silent protag"

"Turkey is my favorite sport"

"My favorite holiday is Monday"

"Hunger is my salvation"

"Dancing is Japanese"

"I can poker but I can't stabber"

"I forgot my pants in the office"

"My husband is best girl"

"Shipped from Fa, China"

"My trash is anime"

 

Admit it, you'd hate it but would want to see what the hell the NPC would say next. And yes, my mind is that random. You all probably knew that already. I mean, look at me. I'm about as orderly and professional as New York City during rush hour.

(I want to know how much above minimum wage you get so I can tell Crawli to deduct that from you. I really don't like you guys)

(Literal disappointment fight)

(Kind of a dick move, Jan)

(That's bullshit and we both know it. His crappy team from chapter 4 could beat you guys)

(Sooner than you think)

(.........Fuck, I usually have something great to say here)

(This really sums me up right now)

 

I think the game is trying to witty saying Melia is depressed but.......I don't get it. There are days like these. Maybe one of you can explain it.

(That you're a gym leader and you'd fight me and give me your badge)

(........)

 

When you realize you're just like your least favorite character. I'm kidding I think Saki is more redundant than bad. No wonder why I can connect to her on a spiritual level. I mostly do those bad puns purely to get people to cringe though. I find they are quite the puntent against people.

 

------------------------------------

So there's been a very long while from the last piece in this chapter I wrote and a few things happened. Was going to finish this but then a certain lawsuit happened and I've been watching idiots be idiots. Twitter was a mistake. Anyways, I'm back since I can't have Derog be stealing the show. Nope. Not gonna happen, buddy.

(.......Coming back here was a mistake)

(I'm a Saki for awful puns...we never had this caption)

(I dunno why this was here. Probably needed more balls)

(Well this is new)

 

Not gonna lie, I prefer the old more boring resort simply because it was easier to traverse around. You'll have people argue about this but I prefer function over features any days. It looks pretty but its less enjoyable since it's more of a pain to get around. 

(Geeze Jan, I miss when they were free)

 

I debated adding Raichu back to the main crew. That didn't happen.

(Saki being Saki it see...didn't this place change twice already. Calm the heck down with the changes, Jan)

(So yeah, another cameo appearance of Huey and....I forget her name)

 

Okay, Jan. I get that it's cool to show off a character early but I really dislike when people do that. It really adds nothing but a distraction. Problem with too many things moving at once is that it can get distracting and your mind easily forgets everything that happened. Instead of having them do something in a clipscene, why not just have them appear standing in an area before with some dialogue before disappearing shortly after. I know Path of Radiance did this a lot but that was for houses to get items and had 0 effect on the plot. But my rule of thumb is "everything has a purpose" so if it doesn't particularly add any value, don't put it in. Generic NPCs have a purpose of making the world feel more alive for example.

(How would...what...no, that's not how that works at all)

 

It's not much different from that.

(Can I get a rain check for it? Imma need it later)

(Gonna be honest I think that title is kind of stupid. Also, people with Gold in their titles don't have a good track record)

(She seemed fine to me)

(Well at least I can finally relax)

(Go home and battle me in a gym battle)

 

I don't really understand the bed aspect of this whole thing. I feel like meditating by staring off into space made more sense but oh well. 

(I wish Jan gave funnier options here)

(Same old Amber. Sounds like me recently conversing with some exceptional people)

 

Definitely would've approached this differently but maybe it's because Jan is a nice delicate angel and doesn't know how to write a bi...tter woman. Don't ever let me write Amber lines as you've seen how much I piss people without trying. Now imagine me trying. That's a scary thought.

(Sigh...we have to deal with Venam again)

(I miss when we actually went back to Gearen to get it)

 

One scene not worth my time later...

(The plot demands Venam be relevant. Gonna be honest I have no idea why she's included)

 

No seriously, Venam is pretty irrelevant in this game no matter what way you spin it. She's just kind of forced into it. It's not always a bad thing but when you have a bloated cast, you gotta make decision and calls you don't like. I had to go "this guy doesn't add much to the plot so how can I change them or incorporate them more" and if I can't, they get the axe or shoved into a side character who doesn't make many appearances. It sucks making the decisions like that but you have to do them. There's a lot of "it'd be so cool if I did this" but you only have finite time and finite resources so you have to make the best of what you have.

(That's...not an exaggeration)

(Your mom is anything but cool. She's smoking hot....I said nothing)

(Looks like Amber finally cracked. She really did fall for me.)

(Pay no attention to the man who blends in with the dialogue box)

(About that...that's a risk I was willing to take. That'd be two less women troubles out of my life. Only got like...20 more. Are you sure this isn't one of those harem games?)

(I still don't understand the whole poster...Jan don't you dare ever explain that)

(And...this is how I got stuck)

 

Do you want to hear an amazing story of how to softlock your game? So after talking to Venam, I didn't feel like picking the surf mon (Primarina has Hyper Voice which is better than Surf). So I went to the teleporter and teleported to the Resort to go back to where Amber is and dove into the spot. So the only solution was either to debug or spend an our fighting wild Pokemon until all of them fainted having me warp to the last Pokemon center I've been to. So while it is a softlock, there is a legit way around it. Leave it to me to be dumb enough to find a softlock. I just used Debug to Use PC to get a mon to get out of this.

(And back to the fighting)

(Saki is still as weird as ever. Let's move on)

(Definitely bigger than 4 times...we could measure it if you wanted)

 

Someone calculate the tile dimensions and report back to me.

(...Oh reminds me I broke my... )

( )

(:bestgirl:)

( )

(Yes, I had no other choice)

( )

( )

( :leavemeoutofthis: )

(Sigh...coming back to this was a mistake)

(Yes, yes we are)

( )

( :yesshedoes: )

(It'll literally take five minutes for us to battle. 2 for the battle and 3 for the...battle)

(Still a pain as ever)

(This is like General White from Paper Mario. Imagine that without warp pipes)

(  )

(Sigh...cue this dumb scene)

(I...uhhh...sure)

(This run in a nutshell...no seriously, that's the best way to describe this crawl)

(Mob mentality?)

(...The fact nobody is trying to take her down is...questionable alone)

(Yep, still as stupid as ever)

 

I mean...I guess the scene is better but I'll probably never like this scene. Better? Probably. But if something is disliked it's hard to turn people's thoughts around on it. I've said plenty on Saki before so I'll leave it at that. (Plus I'm sure a rant is a coming)

(.....well then....)

(Saki is also partially crazy so...yeah...why is everyone in this game so easy to dislike upon meeting them?)

(Well depends on how many drinks you've had. With a daughter like Amber, I think you've had plenty)

(Oh geeze, here we go again)

(I don't want to write this part of this segment, but do you see me complaining? Well I am, but that's not the point. We're getting it done)

(I wish she said "All y'all need to f off my property)

(Let me take both of them on alone. I can do it. It was a joke last time and it'll be a joke this time)

(Seriously, we could just battle Saki right now and get a badge)

(As if this chapter didn't have enough boss battles already)

(I am not comfortable with you using that pun right now. Drop the lawn mower and nobody gets hurt)

(She's a strong independent student who needs no clown)

(It drains me thinking about it)

 

So let's just get into what this is. It's what I'd call a band-aid fix. Is this scene in and of itself a problem? No, but it's just the segment after segment of this "drama" stuff. I know I say be realistic but that comes secondary when people just aren't enjoying something. I know this whole drama is supposed to tie into something bigger but there's just so many better ways to have done it. I'm going to be blunt in that the story focuses on 3 pretty awful characters when it comes to serious or character development and you force players to watch this. I really don't know what you're trying to get out of this anymore. So here's the thing why I really dislike it: this game takes death seriously. Shit hit the fan when the mother died and now you are taking the concept and treating it like a light joke. I know you probably could find some anime that does both, but I'm a "one or the other" kind of guy. If you want death to be an emotional thing, treat it like a sacred object. Yeah, yeah Reborn did it with Terra, but Terra is a very interesting character and really dark when you think about it.

 

Basically, there's this thing where you set something up that it gets so annoying that whatever payout there is was lost simply due to people losing interest. I'd probably would have toned it down with Saki being the tension breaker playing Amber like a fiddle to tick her off even more. That's just me though.

(Hey, I came up with the idea before it was cool)

 

Sigh...alright I'll only bring this up just so people understand it. When I gripe about Rejuv using my stuff, I don't care whether or not it came for me or even is my scripts. Being the first person to experiment with some usually ends up being rough and a lot of times flops horribly needing a lot of tuning. Half my ideas barely make it past the drawing board due to numerous issues including the amount of time required to make these things. The Amaria fight with 21 or something Pokemon took a full day to get all the kinks out of it. If Redux is where light bulbs popped into your head on this stuff, I'd think a simple "special thanks to" and a few names in there would work wonders. It's whatever at this point as Rejuv is like a drug. I know it's bad for me, but I just can't stop doing this run.

 

Also redoing the whole game was a terrible idea. This took way longer than anticipated. STOP CHANGING EVERYTHING!

(I don't get how that'd help improve your battling. Seriously, wouldn't grinding mons be more effective?)

(NO! I already have enough problems with that field)

(And they lost first try. I guess Melia kind of was useful here...though I could've done it easily myself)

 

Once I get caught up, I'll make a playlist of all the videos for anyone that wants to watch them. I just have to click publish iirc. Just will save me time and effort trying to plaster them since I'm not doing them after this.

(It didn't...you really should lead with that, Jan)

(This stuff was kind of the same)

(I feel like being nice today and giving you guys an Easter present)

(The cake is a lie)

(...Someone just got triggered. You don't push Tesla's trigger button)

(This room is nice)

 

Yeah somehow we got an upgrade in this alternate dimension. It's a really nice bed. I kind of really like the new design for the mansion.

 

And I missed it but when you leave you see Amber running to her room which you're supposed to follow her.

(You're lucky. I've dealt with that daily for 2 years straight once. I'm not kidding)

(.........Dammit now I feel bad. You're the only one of these 4 idiots I actually like)

(No, not gonna do that. Only one I like is Tesla and if she saw me walk out of a room with her daughter crying, I'd become a permanent resident of her underwater resort)

(I mostly just want my badge, honestly. Give me one and I'll leave you alone for good)

(Fine. But whenever I leave someone...)

(Yep...that happens. Why can't anyone be competent enough to not get captured)

(Oh great, more lady problems)

(Huh. I don't remember this mon.)

 

I love how it has explosion. Actually a really good move for Mankey.

(And we're done)

 

I actually like this little addition. I kind of wish the Xen grunts were a little more silly or a couple extra were loitering like playing a game. Have a little fun with them since they're expendable if not forgettable. Probably a good thing I wasn't put in charge because I would've gone all out here.

(That feels like years ago but it's only been 2 months...I think)

(You're going to reveal pics from Geara at the Christmas party?)

(Arrogance as usual)

(Well I think...where is everyone?)

(Okay, so I admit I lost the first attempt as I wasn't expecting a battle)

 

So here's when I win:

(I still had plenty of fire to go...I think. I don't remember this fight)

(Explanation time:)

(If only that were poison. That'd make my life so much easier)

(I don't know how and when, but I guess we won't question that)

(I don't even like potato soup so I would've been okay)

(And I conk out)

 

I kind of miss the grunt questioning why they didn't grab Melia. That was a pretty funny little gag where the grunt is smarter than the leader used in quite a number of things. Not a big deal it's gone but I don't mind a little bit of humor like that. I'm gonna call that change bad. Soup thing was a good change.

(Note to self: stay away from all toilets nearby)

(Old school arcade games are hard)

(...I guess there is such thing as karma. Today is my lucky day)

(...Melia, I'm not even going to say it. Blonde really suits you)

(Eh, Amber will be fine under Tesla)

(Well this is new)

(Okay, I'll admit that was a good Saki line)

(...That was...who the heck cares? They couldn't even beat a man with 6 Magikarp even if they tried)

(Agreed)

(Yeah you may want to not speak to her yet or you're have to go through a long segment before being able to get back to Gearen. Unless they ship still takes you. I don't remember)

(Here's a tip: my fist will knock you straight into the next island if you try taking anything from me)

(And...I backtrack a bit due to realizing I can't just warp back)

(Time for randoms stuff like this:)

(And I never use him ever again)

(And thus Roger was...wait I already evolved Roger Roger. What did I use this one on?)

(And I did part of the mail quest)

(Yep, that stayed the same)

(Oh boy another movie. It's not even movie night)

(I dunno. Ask Derog. They seem to have a mind of their own in his dimension)

(Darkrai would like to have a word with you)

(There will be more than 1k soon. Gen 8 is coming, boys.)

(And stupidity. And greed. And whatever)

(In this day and age anyone can be taken down at the snap of a finger)

(That...was disturbing)

 

wait...how was I seeing that? This game confuzzles me sometimes

(And this place changed as well. What map hasn't changed at this point?)

(And we're going to church)

(HAPPY EASTER GUYS! Guess I really did make it to the church service today)

 

And that's a lot of progress even if it feels like I barely got anywhere. It's 4am. I really have no more steam left and I gave you who knows how many rants. This is like DLC content anyways. I hope this doesn't become a monthly 1 chapter thing but it might end up having to be that way. I don't even remember what happened. So hello. I made a chapter. Let me sleep. Bye.

[Dex]

Honestly that Heart to Heart scene with Valerie is emblematic of everything wrong with Melia's role in the game, along with the scene where you're reignited with Tesla. She comes in and it immediately becomes about her. It honestly ruins the scene with Tesla, the first friendly face you see in Aevium after escaping the passenger liner. It's at least partially made up for with the kitchen scene, but still.

 

I do gotta say I like the look of the game as of the current version, everything just LOOKS better. Say nothing else about Rejuvenation, it's probably the best looking Pokemon fangame next to Legends of the Arena. 

 

The plot and set piece changes, I have nothing to add beyond what you said already. 

 

Seeing all this makes me realize I need to get back to my own run of Rejuvenation. . . it's been awhile. 

 

[Commander]

On 4/21/2019 at 6:58 PM, Dex said:

Honestly that Heart to Heart scene with Valerie is emblematic of everything wrong with Melia's role in the game, along with the scene where you're reignited with Tesla. She comes in and it immediately becomes about her. It honestly ruins the scene with Tesla, the first friendly face you see in Aevium after escaping the passenger liner. It's at least partially made up for with the kitchen scene, but still.

 

I do gotta say I like the look of the game as of the current version, everything just LOOKS better. Say nothing else about Rejuvenation, it's probably the best looking Pokemon fangame next to Legends of the Arena. 

 

The plot and set piece changes, I have nothing to add beyond what you said already. 

 

Seeing all this makes me realize I need to get back to my own run of Rejuvenation. . . it's been awhile. 

 

I never really cared about how good a game looks. Even Kingdom Hearts 3 which has insane graphics never had me flipping out how well it looks. On the flip side, it helps me play games that aged horribly no problem like Legend of Dragoon and FF7 not really bothered by how horrible they look by today's standards. I appreciate when a game looks good, but I really don't care all that much. I really like games with unique art styles as while I didn't like the trails in the sky art style it's really grown on me and I absolutely love what they did with it. It's a good trait to have when picking up and playing older RPGs.

 

As for Melia, I've honestly stopped caring about the main plot I just go "It is what it is" at this point. It's not so much Melia is bad, but she's not a great character so whenever she isn't around things really start improving and shining. In my opinion a game with a large cast should only focus on the main protagonist, 35% of the time with all the others getting 10-15% starring in the show. During this time, the main character is nothing more than an instrument to continue the plot forward simply being a tool needed to do so. But that's a difference between a good and great writer. A good writer understands the balance of things, but a great one makes the reader completely oblivious of it in the first place. I'm still a rookie, but you learn things classes can't teach on how to win an audience with the story. I can't teach these things.

 

And yeah I gotta stop with the 1 month per chapter updates but this was a behemoth and things were going on

-----------------------------------------------------

 

Chapter 57: Ending Where we Began

 

Yep, we're going to finally make it back to where this long ass backtrack for changes took us. I'm not doing this again. It's basically 2 chapters combined of additional content ridiculousness. Oh well it's over and I hope you guys enjoyed it as we're going to be back to doing the original run and team after this since I didn't record any of the fights and gameplay due to fatigueness. I don't mind grinding but when there's doubts all that grinding will even end up making any use at all is demotivating. I'm also the one who would rather one fight be too easy over too hard while all the other fights are just fine. I don't mind easy games. They're very relaxing and challenge you on a basic level without breaking up the pace to grind or need to over prepare. Oh great this wasn't the rant I wanted but we're going down this rabbit hole anyways.

 

So most people play games for entertainment. Some people think games should be ridiculously hard and the story be what rewards you. I don't mind that, but most of the games where I hit a wall I have a lot of adjustments I could make to improve my characters for that specific battle. Maybe something that resists a status effect or elemental resistance for example. Most RPGs have a solution to get out of rough patches if need be and guides often highlight that. The Geara and Zetta battle there's nothing but to spend an hour or more grinding for a better solution if you come in with the wrong team or wrong options. That's just to get down and get something better since Escape Ropes don't work. There's a lot more to a battle than just a battle as you do have to think about the bigger picture. If there's a big climatic battle coming up and you want it to be brutal, make a teleporter or something for convenience for people who want to better prepare and equip themselves. Yes, you're supposed to have gateway like bosses to make sure players buff up or change their teams and strats.

 

And here's the thing about doing that: you get a little bit of leeway afterwards, but that's the standard for future fights then and the expectation. That's kind of why I was disappointed with most of the fights since they weren't that hard on intense. You either have to nerf the problematic fights or you have to buff the rest to match it. That's for intense. Normal mode imo you should be able to pick a decent team and use it to carry you more or less the entire game. Most people don't wanna learn or fully strategize but like a challenge. It's a good balance to have both. If making the two different or 3 difficulties is a bit too much work, you could always add multipliers to the stats of all the mons when loading them into the game. They have data that can be altered. Is it easy? Not exactly, but you should be able to change their stats to be 200% increase in HP and such. There's plenty of options to go about this, but it's up to the dev what to greenlight or not and their responsibility to balance around those.

 

So this isn't a V12 change but it's something they all need to decide on. Is Normal mode or Intense mode the one you consider that you spend the most time on and one you want to push more? Aka what mode do you believe the game should be played one. That's the one you want to be the main focus and the middle of the pack. Don't drop any modes. Add a description, but if intense is the recommended mode to play on, add an additional difficulty. Do not change anything about the mons though. Figure out a way to buff all these mons in which players will need to make knowledge of field effects to even have a chance to win or be destroyed. People are really into the whole so brutal hard you have to grind and prep thing. I'll leave that idea on the table for you guys to consider. I don't know what you guys are going for so I have to cover everything and it can be vague or brief if not pointless depending on what you guys want to do.

 

*****************************************

 

Now the thing I wanted to rant about was Pateon. No, it's not a bad rant, but here's the bottom line: these games are expensive to make. I'm not talking about money, but the more valuable resource of time. I don't agree with the way of Pateon to funds these since it's technically illegal, but I understand it. I'm not going to tell you whether or not to throw money, but why this is kind of happening and likely is going to rise up after Reborn is done. Even Redux takes me a long ass time to get things done as there's a lot of things to consider and need worked on (why I've asked for people to give me a couple hours which would have shaved off so much time for more projects but I just had to scrap a ton of stuff instead. That's how it goes). It's basically a job in terms of workload. When it's volunteer work, it gets pushed back and just abandoned since it's not protifable and really takes a drain on your time and health while working on other projects ESPECIALLY grand scale 60+ hour RPGs. That's why sorry to ruin this Desolation is not going to get finished and most of those projects you're waiting on are going to be abandoned. That's just how volunteer stuff works as people don't have the ability to dedicate solely to massive projects all the time as they have to sacrifice something else to do it.

 

I don't like the Patreon solution, but it's a good solution to fund people to work on this stuff. Like Ame's $900 a month isn't a lot of money (like a third what I would earn at a starting job in my career), but it's still a lot of money and money she doesn't have to extend resources to work for. Therefore instead of putting that time into earning that money doing something else, she's spending it towards working on Reborn. Jan's Pateon has like $350 or something a month. That's 48 hours of minimum wage a month. That was one of my jobs when working on Redux which oh my lord I would be able to do so much not working there. Financial stability is the biggest factor why projects don't get done. The other is motivation. But the money alleviates time to work on the games which lets them get done faster and more effectively.

 

I'm not donating to the Patreon for my own reasons and Jan did not ask me (or anyone) to speak about this on their behalf. If you really, really like this game say over a certain game in the store coming out, maybe donate to the Patreon to support it. Don't put yourself in financial trouble as nobody wants you to do that. As much as I think they should be free and nobody pay a cent, money is going to be needed to make these games get created faster, better tested, and way more polished. I just know people always wonder "How can I help with this game?" and the easiest and most effective is money. Hate to be blunt but that's more effective than doing a run, giving criticism, or spreading it to more people. And you don't have to as Rejuv and Reborn should and always should be considered a free experience, but that's just a way to support them.

 

I don't know if people are interested in Dev cycles at all or even want me to go into them. I don't know what you guys are interested in so I simply assume it's just me shitting on the game is what y'all come here for. If you have a question or comment, I'm on the forums and Discord almost daily. You can even make a fake account and ask about stuff to talk even. There's very little you can make me uncomfortable and even fewer questions I won't answer (you can ask my husband @Commander if you're uncertain). I don't mind or even clarifying stuff. I really don't.

 

A lot has happened since the Winter Party

 

and here we go...

 

(Oh....I don't remember if this changed or not. Guess we're doing this)

 

Oh great, this reminds of the can of worms I opened around here. Let's make this simple: I won't let my thoughts on the controversial subject effect how I view a single instance in a work. I have nothing against gay people so don't bother trying to throw that at me. It's simply that I don't really care about that or hurting your feelings because I think something most people don't do ends up being bad. Basically even if something is controversial and even if it puts me in hot water, I'm still going to talk about it. So just get it out of your systems now so that when the time comes I don't get a lot of angry people at me over it.

 

And spoiler alert: I don't think the Melia x Venam thing is as bad as I thought it'd be but yeah it has a lot of issues. That'll be a fun segment to explore and I expect rage and anger over it. 

(Which one are we talking about? Melia?)

(Oh it's me)

(..........That's probably true)

 

So the player now has their own prophecy and inner demons. I think that was a nice addition. I do try to capture every changed detail I can in these two versions that came out. 

(No, I am the ghost of Christmas past)

 

That reminds me, so sad they didn't have the original 3 ghosts from the Scrooge special on Ducktales. They referenced it though which I find hilarious. Hey, this is my run. I can be whatever random I want. Even full random. Never go full random though.

(Hmm...god advice)

(I don't remember this. I regret taking this pic because of how stupid I look)

 

That is the most comfy position obviously. I call it Le Face Pain named after Frenchera.

(I guess it looks nicer than it did)

(At least they gave him a chair now. And heat. Angie is a good host now)

(And yes, I did get the hidden event this time)

(You don't have any because nobody but Venam likes you)

 

Well...more like she pushes them away. Honestly, Melia could have been a good character if you pushed for her to be an unlikable at the start. Hmm...I guess here's just an idea I would've honestly rolled with:

 

Instead of making Melia feel like our friend, I would've made her look like an enemy. Val would've been the perfect one to fill the seeds of doubt stating that she did let the player's mother die as while it could've been an accident, everything else seemed a bit too calculated and she really didn't trust the crew at the start. It's basically a think nothing of it. The doubts grow as she leads the group forward when suddenly Geara and Zetta get free due to her "carelessness". Then another incident happens as they all move forward letting the ship get attacked due to Melia's orders (which nobody elected her leader). She's then very persistent that the player follows her up the mountain and only focuses on the player.

 

These incidents lead up to a heart-to-heart with Valarie who talks about her past a bit but then gets serious talking about Melia and how both you and her know so little about her and all the "coincidences" that happened. She warns the player to be careful as Melia might be leading the player to a trap for who knows what reason. She wants to trust Melia but after seeing people she worked years with in Akuwa City turn on her to work for Neved she's not sure what to think. Melia interrupts asking what they're talking about and Valarie changes the subject about school leaving it to the interaction they have where Melia cries about flunking.

 

She lets the player go with Melia and Venam to see Angie out of trust, but when the snow comes she runs over and is relieved the player is safe. Then when Melia takes off she doesn't want the player following but insists on going if the player is going. Lot of options you could have for her in the mountains but doesn't matter as instead of getting teleported with the group she goes out to find Saki and the rest of her friends not staying for Amber's party.

 

Why is Valarie important to Melia? Because she's a force against Melia or even a fallacy. You'd meet Val again shortly after and while she opens up she could still be reserved given Melia's and Crescent's affiliation. Val doesn't know the whole story so why on earth would she be trusting to a secretive girl who came out of nowhere and dragged them into danger a number of times? And that conflict makes you wonder as a person if you could really trust Melia and watch her actions questioning them. There's many reasons to trust her but at the same time there's reasons not to trust her. Val is also what I call a blank slate character meaning she doesn't have much so it's easy to fill and design her character for a role. That's often why I say don't add characters to fill more roles and instead look at what you have to see what else they can do first.

 

But if I had to pick a cast to focus and develop on to push the plot I'd go for Melia (unfortunately), the Player, Aelita, Ren, Val, Erin, and Krystal. I'm not a big fan of Val but she has ties with a number of people and is a pretty level headed character to really help push the rest of the cast. Krystal is too nice for her own good and really ties into a lot of the issues and history of the game. I hate being cruel about Venam but she ultimately is just not that relevant and doesn't really do anything. She's really just some punk that gets in the way. Her conflict is just that she's irresponsible and Melia completes her apparently. Maybe if the game took time to better develop her I'd consider her main cast worthy but it chucks that out to make her look tough. Here's a secret: the characters most people really connect to and talk about aren't the tough and cool characters. The reason people like the tough characters is it's often an act and they have really big hearts such as Agate from Trails, Regal from Symphonia, Rico from Xenogears, Ziggy from Xenosaga, and so on. You have to really go 110% to develop them or they just end up forgettable.

 

Villains don't matter as much since their development varies upon writer. But there's no book that says do things a certain way. That's just me if I were in charge. That also doesn't mean other characters don't have arcs or stories that get told but simply they just aren't the focus and can get lost or at least really aren't relevant for driving the plot. You could even switch Krystal out for Damien since his role is nearly the same but he tends to avoid working with people. Well here we go on tangents but here's another way to create a story (I don't do this but it's a good technique for large scale storyboards).

 

So once you have a general idea what the cast looks like, get a large piece of paper and make two small circles in the center with the names of the primary protagonist and primary antagonist. There should be a line with one word to describe how the two characters relate. Now draw three circles below/above those two characters and they should have lines connecting to nearly every one of those characters on the sheet. Just three. No more. No less. This is what we call your core. I'll give you some examples why this is very helpful:

 

Here's what the core looks like:

Spoiler

(sorry phone and image uploader are being a pain)

 

Here's what the main cast chart focusing on the important relations looks like:

Spoiler

 

And here's a different story that shows what a complex character relations chart would look like:

Spoiler

(Remember this is only important stuff)

 

Not so much bragging but to show how easy important can get lost when you have a lot of characters with complex ties with other characters. More characters is not a good thing at all. It requires more balance and methods to at least make them feel like characters as story scenes are very unlikely going to do that well for all these characters. And more importantly, having a character tell you their life story doesn't make them a character. I find it's often the impressions from other characters what makes said character a character. I've hounded on this over and over again. Anyways, let's get back to Rejuv before this turns into an E4 member.

(Melia cult in a nutshell)

(...don't you dare make that a real thing)

(And she gone)

(Still a better love story than Twilight)

 

That...was the most awkward time to take that. Yeah, that scene was kind of a letdown and doesn't really add anything for some super secret scene I had to see. No really, that's it. I was expecting something more tbh. I see nothing wrong with people wanting Ice Queens.

(Tower.exe is corrupted. Would you like to reboot?)

(Angie: You're tearing me apart, Mandy)

(And that's Angie done and over with)

(Whelp I probably should've tacked that onto the previous chapter but oh well. Guess we're on chapter 9 now)

(I can count, I swear)

(These people must really hate the protagonist that travels faster than the speed of slow)

(This arc is terrible tbh. It's just never going to go the right way due to how it was structured)

(Oh yeah this pic. This beautiful pic)

 

I was so pissed off when I got this reward it was glorious. It felt like the equivalence of FFX's Chocobo Race but instead of getting Tidus's best weapon, you get a bloody elixir out of it. All of that work just simply for a hard slap in the face. 25 AP also isn't that much. I thought it'd be something locked behind that quest like a good TM, rare powerful Pokemon, or maybe godly Megastone/Z-Crystal, but this is what we got. I already ranted on this, but it still just makes me so mad. That was not fun on intense and I never want to do it ever again. Still not as frustrating as Zetta & Geara but pretty close. I don't like playing games that make me want to pull my hair out for an hour to achieve victory. I just don't.

(This is new)

(This is also new)

(This guy is also new)

(I've seen stranger things like a Pokemart on top of a mansion)

(Yeah that'd be bad for business...wait, wasn't the lighthouse outside before? Jan, stop changing the lore)

(Sounds like his Grandpa was a bit of an ass)

(Okay, bye)

 

I don't really have much of a comment on this. I mean, what is there to comment? It doesn't tie in at all to a future sidequest and really doesn't add anything to the story. Kind of pointless, but it's a game so what does it matter. Maybe it could've been done better, but we have a hilarious surprise:

(Yes, that is a female)

 

So I managed to get a female Tyrogue which is impossible. I wanted to Hitmontop so I decided to cave in and use this one due to how special it was even ignoring the bad nature and the little lopsided IVs (I had to do a love of EV training to balance it out). I really like Hitmontop and I rarely use it so now was a good time to use one and it was pretty useful the entire game.

(The cold never bothered this guy anyways)

 

Remember the jerk from Goldenwood? I didn't either so here's a scene where he built a statue of Rayquayza:

(At least I got paid to deal with this)

(Too bad I didn't get paid to deal with this)

(Oh...that's why people think the tower is Regice. I...really don't care)

(Days? I mean if I had a week dedicated to that I'd be fine with it, but I don't and then I do stuff like this to suck more of my time up)

(Saki seems to be very bored...that's dangerous)

(Congrats, but good luck getting any more. People be dropping dead and disappearing more than in Cloverfield)

(No, no you won't ever catch up to me)

(I actually lost once since I didn't expect a fight here and now and with that team of all things. Bringing a lot of mons weak to fighting wasn't my best plan)

(She...has a Woobat. That's new)

(Hello, Reina. You won't be relevant until like 8 more chapters or something)

(Yes...he's the only person in the world I can stand being around longer than five minutes before needing to scream into the abyss)

(And the convo is about the same after that)

(The level 1 Slakoth is new)

 

Things are still the same as before and we're now skipping to here:

(That's not om...why didn't they put that outside of the sealed chamber instead of inside. That way people would know not to do this before trying to do this making the sign completely pointless.)

(And now we make the right choice)

(And I learned she doesn't die)

(And we're fighting over some petty stone. Are we supposed to take this game seriously?)

(Well, I guess the endgame is the same either way)

(Someone's obsessed with Ice Nuns)

(I don't...you were trying to kill yourself. Not that I don't blame you, but still, you're about the only voice of reason in this whole mess)

(Bigger is better as they say)

(I have no idea why the screen went tiny.)

 

Well this is something. I don't remember making it smaller but hey, it is what it is since the images crashed.

(Well to be fair you kind of knew this was...oh, I guess that's a spoiler)

(I may have been the once to cause one of those unfortunately. Well, I am responsible for a lot of these messes but we'll get to that after Amber)

(Well we wouldn't have had a large chunk of the plot if you hadn't)

(She kind of had it coming. She escaped death twice. One does not escape it a third time)

(Spoiler: you can still do it at the spring)

(...I don't understand the point of this chunk of dialogue. Nothing changed about it)

(And that's most of the story done. Now for random stuff)

(.......................................................................................................We never speak of this ever again)

(Oh yeah, you can't paralyze electric types. That was one nice thing about Normalize Delcatty. I miss Gen V already)

(I'm a league master, I don't need no education)

(...At least somebody gives me recognition I deserve)

(He's somewhere really high up beyond any of our reaches right now)

(....He knows)

(There's 151 plus many Johto mons with the only ones missing being in Colosseum except Lugia though there were a lot of Mystery Events which you need a hacking device to access. I miss those)

(I probably did have 350 but I wiped my Pokedex like a ding-dong)

(So I cheated the system by editing the required number of Pokemon)

(I just wanted to show people what was in this room for anyone interested)

(This is where those two mons ended up getting moved to.)

(Sure. You probably know which one I picked based on one of my members in the final run)

(I chose Elekid but the one I used was part of a breeding chain)

(This gets explained later but it's kind of easy to understand what the plot is trying to do)

 

Let me explain a few things: Rejuv tries to make itself a larger scale project than it is capable of. If we remove Team Anti Assist, we don't have just one, not two, but three forces that the player is going to end up having to face all with big bads. There's also Indy and Angie but who knows what parts those two play in all of this. The problem is that it's a very large scaled project to the point...how many people really even care about Team Xen anymore? No really, do they even feel like a major threat and drive of the story? I don't really have any attachment to any of the antagonists or enemies because they get basic development before getting ignored or left out of the plot for who knows how long. I mean who here remembers Geara is the big bad of this segment. Right? He pulls everything off and is the one to do the most damage. Yet that role pretty much goes to Angie since Angie was focused. Also because the game was more on its silly side which is where it shines. I don't take Rejuv seriously. Sorry. It does cool little things but it doesn't wrap me into it for its plot. Side plots are interesting and there's potential but it just never is going to make me "I want to replay this game again." Seriously, only reason I am is because I didn't take screenshots since I thought I was done with the darn thing.

(And I cheat again to see what he says)

(And he gives you the other egg. I don't know if there are more than 550 mons available to catch and use so maybe it's not obtainable yet. I dunno)

(I swear if he's a treasure hunter in his spare time. Louisiana Throne and the Raiders of the Lost Library)

(I'm saving this for later or at least opening with this image)

 

Lectures with Professor Mandy will now begin. Today's lesson will be on why games in beta take so long. The reason why they take so long is not so much playtesting but for a bunch of people to play test it to find errors and to try and eliminate all of them. Rarely do all of them get caught with such a small control group not dedicated or paid to do one task making is take longer and not as effective as 2 weeks with a dev group of 20 doing that and only that for 4 hours a day. The length of time also varies by the degree of bugs. Reborn's new AI system was really buggy simply because the scripts couldn't process all of it in battle causing Pokemon to not take a turn or action. That's really hard to fix since it requires rewriting lines of script to try and get around it. Unfortunately, that'll likely still be a hiccup for people who mod the game as certain moves and mons might get hung up by it by having an obscure move that they normally don't have. Most bugs and glitches that get caught by the playerbase are usually minor being typos, tile errors, or an event reading the wrong name (cough when you play as a certain someone). There's 100s of them but they all take no more than a minute to fix. And that was today's pointless lecture with Prof Mandy. Stay tuned for next time where we discuss why boobs...I mean plot is the greatest part of any game.

(And I go and buy everything by selling some stuff including a stardust powder which I regret later)

(And this beautiful scene I don't feel like talking about again)

(No, it took me 2 years to get this. I ain't turning it over that easily. Well more like 4 years at this point. Geeze, I'm really slow)

(She's talking about the one missing Pokemon she stole from Amber)

 

I know about the whole people only using 6 mons in battle but it seems like they can hold onto more than that. Would be cool to see a surprise 7 mon battle due to all this BS. I mean it makes sense even if people aren't happy about it.

(And that's it)

(WE ARE FINALLY BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED!)

 

So I am actually further than this with screenshots, but I think this is a really good place to stop since it's the stopping point before and I have something I need to do in the morning so I can't pull an all nighter again. Anyways, celebration time over I do think the older segments clearly have improved I think it branched out to some really neat ideas and some struck the landing and others are kind of a flop imo. So I've said my parts and I think we got a general idea how I feel (or maybe I got tired of repeating myself and we assume I'm a grouch saying those things) so I'll cut down and get to advice:

 

I recommend putting a halt to the graphic changes. Yes, they are major improvements to the way it looks, but nobody is asking you to go the extra mile for a fan project. You have to remember that this is a fan project and simply just a passion and not a masterpiece no matter how much you want it to be. It's not your because it wasn't based on your work. It was a spin on someone else's work who really was in the right place in the right time to become a phenomenon. Just take a moment to think if people would want to play your game if it had monsters instead of iconic Nintendo figures. There are actually games that do this stuff and one I'm playing right now and love, but very few people here know those titles. I hate knocking people down a peg but I think people need to take a moment and look at reality. Most people are here simply because they want more Pokemon and it's something you need to take a step back and realize looking past all the praise and criticisms.

 

Your fanbase isn't hardcore RPG gamers or hell really even many people from the RPG genre. Maybe 25-30% really. A lot of RPG communities I'm a part of mention Reborn like once every other year and only one mentioned Rejuv simply due to the guy on there also being part of the Reborn community. You don't stick out that much or catch many eyes. I'm sorry to be cruel, Jan. This isn't an easy path where people succeed especially now when anyone can really create anything to make a profit no matter how good or bad. I'm sure Ame is very aware what I'm talking about which is why Reborn's dev time per episode really slowed. It's not so much she's milking Reborn, but when Reborn is done she needs it to end on the best note possible because the phase out of it can be brutal. Maybe she'll be the next Toby Fox, but not likely. Toby Fox worked on Earthbound mods before doing Undertale. Even top notch people can get eaten alive and fail in this brutal market so you really have to go 110% into stuff when starting out or you won't make it far.

 

The main fanbase for Rejuv is the Pokemon fanbase which people are just starving for one thing: Pokemon. It's more than just battling monsters as it's simply exploring a place and being a treasure hunter while growing stronger and showing off. They like having all types of teams to build which is why the games are replayed so many times. Difficulty really doesn't matter so much since it's mostly just mindless fun, however, a lot of GF's content has been a bit too mindless which is why the hacking/fan-game community has such a large following and quality keeps going up. Your competition in the Fan-game market is fairly low because very few projects finish and finishing one automatically is a huge success no matter how good or bad it is because you'll have a big following of people who love it. Most people overlook flaws and such without second thought since it's basically a craving which is easy to satisfy with the selection of games. I'm not trying to be cruel, but it's pretty much the truth (why do you think the issue with people not reading is so common?)

 

I just don't want Jan to overexert himself to the point he is unwilling to even make a second game. There's really two roads to take regarding Rejuv. The first is to stop worrying so much about making the best project and focus more on keeping it in a way you're passionate about and happy. As much as people hate on Full Moon, I'm pretty sure the guy is really happy and enjoys making it so it really doesn't matter what people think of it for him. It's not about being good but simply just having fun. People will always really like the product no matter what so expend your resources on what you enjoy. The second path is to start taking this game more seriously and start listening to what people say. I'm pretty sure you're going into the footsteps of the second path based on where things are going and how they are going and your responses to stuff. So I want to listen to me very carefully and make sure Jan sees this.

 

Making the game pretty definitely will attract people for good first impressions but first impressions are really difficult in a time where graphics are at such a high bar even with good graphics somebody has you absolutely beat. Phoenix Rising had good graphics if not the best in Pokemon Fan-game history but nobody is talking about that game anymore. Most people can overlook faults in graphics so long as they aren't super distracting. You've got a lot of toys and ideas on your plate and I think it's now the best time to focus more on seeing how to implement these more. If you asked people if they'd rather see Terajuma remapped to look better than anything any Pokemon game has produced or 8-10 Heart-to-Heart scenes with characters, I'm willing to bet they'd ask more for the latter. Faults can wait to be fixed, but skills need to be built up over time. Remember that. You need to remember that when building your craft.

 

I know dev people are mad and pissed off at what I say. Good. I shouldn't be your friend when it comes to your work. Like I said, I've had people thank me before ending up in careers they never imagined they'd hit. It's not because I'm all knowing, but because I'm hard on them. My criticism isn't what makes someone better. It's the fact you're willing to listen and intake what someone you dislike says and adapt and develop skills because of it. People have asked me to shred their work so apparently it's a privilege. I dunno. Anyone can really do it. You reading this are a consumer and while it may be fun, there's always things you may want or feel lacked. You don't need books or a Bachelor's in English to be good at it. Just practice and be honest. If the person isn't able to take a shitstorm of haters, they are in the wrong industry especially with the Internet today.

 

And I'm also famed for really making long ass posts. I can't help it. No really, 5,000 words is short to me. I know it's a lot to read which is why I leave stuff in a lot of paragraphs. If something doesn't interest you, it's easy to skip and move to the next thought or simply to skim through. I've done it on stuff all the time. I'm also an entertainer and you need a lot of content to keep your readers entertained. Oh god knowing what's coming up rants will be in full. Anyways, I just do what I do best. Basically, I just am here to make sure people don't get too cocky. Arrogance is a lot of people's fallacy. Yeah, yeah makes me sound like a hypocrite, but you don't think I'm aware I have faults and a mindset different from most people? Anyways, have a good night and I'll see you guys in hopefully less than a month with the next chapter.

 

........Also, the fact Derog and I pulled our runs back up after a hiatus at the same time was a coincidence. That or someone linked our souls together in which when one does something the other has to follow. (One day I will pass him though. One day.)

[DemICE]

I think many of those things that you criticize (the non-game related ones too), fall into a "necessary evil"  category. I think us debating on them won't really matter for anything.

 

Of all that, the thing that i feel like commenting on more is that out of the way jenner scene.  While it creates some pre-build because of what happens with him later, it feels so sudden and random.  Also why would you question the sentience/sapience of pokemon when you have live examples like Braixen?   Literally give them a way to trascend the language barrier and their thought processes don't seem so different.  Altho it could depend on species and the circumstances in which the pokemon was raised...

 

Also remind me... did you fight the new angie or did you just load the old save after the victory from v10 ?

[Commander]

On 5/1/2019 at 6:45 PM, DemICE said:

I think many of those things that you criticize (the non-game related ones too), fall into a "necessary evil"  category. I think us debating on them won't really matter for anything.

 

Of all that, the thing that i feel like commenting on more is that out of the way jenner scene.  While it creates some pre-build because of what happens with him later, it feels so sudden and random.  Also why would you question the sentience/sapience of pokemon when you have live examples like Braixen?   Literally give them a way to trascend the language barrier and their thought processes don't seem so different.  Altho it could depend on species and the circumstances in which the pokemon was raised...

 

Also remind me... did you fight the new angie or did you just load the old save after the victory from v10 ?

I'll get those posted public now I suppose.

 

 

Not sure if I'll ever fix the ones that need editing but there you go for all battle up until Zetta and Geara which I don't and won't have videos for those.

 

Also not really sure if I'll do videos anymore after since they are a pain.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Chapter 58: This is starting to become a monthly thing

 

Honestly, I can't really promise any consistent schedule since things are hectic with a new job starting up. If I find time I'll work on this but it's no longer any type of priority. Sorry, but that's just the way things are. 58 Chapters worth of content is insane in and of itself for something like this and most people don't even get anywhere close to this so yeah? Anyways let's just get this trainwreck moving:

 

(Yes, that is the actual dialogue. Slowest genocide in existence)

(That's a sad existence)

(It truly is)

(Foreshadowing much?)

 

I know Jan likes to go back and all these bells and whistles but you do have to remember that there is a main plot that should have a focus. A lot of this additional content is more distracting than beneficial. This isn't a bad thing as ultimately a game is meant for entertainment and if it does that then it does its job. Easy way to figure out where to put stuff is to ask three questions: What do I need? What do I want? What do they need? Being able to convey something to the player is easier said then done since it's in your head and makes sense to you but maybe not somebody else. Not important but just saying. Also, can we please lay off the foreshadowing? We get it. Professor Jenner is going to die. There's a point where it gets obnoxious.

(Oh look a mysterious person who totally won't end up being a main antagonist later. Nope, not at all)

(Personally would have gone with famed instead of famous though I'm more on insults)

 

"I was told rumors of a famed trainer who was capable of anything but to move efficiently. The rumors don't live up to the truth. I don't got time for you so let me lay it to you real quick"

(Probably will take a month to climb it)

(Hooray for long explanation nobody cares about)

 

So let's do the opposite and go down and save Amber.

(That was a mistake)

(Only my noble steed is able to take the blasted thing down)

 

I was expecting Primal Kyogre so I uhh...had to rethink my strat a little bit. No Ditto needed.

(How did...did the whale seal you or something? I gotta stop asking about logic)

(Here we go)

(3 red heads. 3 read heads. See how they burn. See how they burn.)

(..........Madelis you're about as impressive as my Frenchera impersonation. Nobody wants to see but unfortunately they still have to)

(You could have just I dunno say you were my friend and then met her. Anything to get Melia away from me.)

(.....Those stats are as backwards as this game's plot sometimes)

(Madelis is going to cut her loses here)

(She does)

(Are you bribing me?)

(We never had this conversation)

(Seems more normal than most of the stuff that happens)

(I feel awkward seeing this is a mother daughter moment)

 

Kind of reminds me what I wish the protag was like

Spoiler

 

(Whelp chapter over. Go home now)

(Guys...saving the world. Can this wait? No? I forgot this was an RPG)

(No shit. That's what heroes do. Well if there was an option if I had to choose between Melia and a boulder, I'd save the boulder. I need my rock)

(Save your drama for your moma...wait you are her mother)

(And that's the end of that)

 

I've been playing Ao no Kiseki so not much is going to impress me after seeing that. 

(What Rebels? What are we rebelling against? Terrorism? I think we call those people Patriots or something)

(And...something stupid in 3...2...1...)

(And it's gone)

 

This game tries to be serious and funny but it just mixes it the wrong way sometimes. An old trick I learned is not to force the writing to come out but kind of let it come naturally. It's going to sound weird to basically say ignore everything I say but it's kind of important. I don't point this stuff out to berate people. All stories have problems and oh god even when I reach my prime someone could rip anything I write in half. It's the understanding that matters. You can tell a lot about a creator and it's apparent Jan is an amateur and that's okay. It's actually a good thing to have a lot of mistakes as we're both young and failures are often what curve us toward the right path, not our strengths. I'm sure Jan has seen something that I or maybe multiple people said that made him want to scream in frustration. If he didn't, I'd be worried. It's part of the passion and part of the pains of getting better.

 

Now instead of just complaining since we are professional whiners here, I'll try to make this a bit more interesting. Is this scene bad? Yes. Why? It's a needless element that detracts from the game. The player holds no control and they just murder some random guy. We didn't do it, the game forced us to do it. That really tends to irk the players. In simple terms: it is bad because people will not enjoy it. So it should just be deleted, right? I'll just give the answer: it depends. My criticism of XXX is relevant? It depends. Writing and entertainment is a subjective field so at the end of the day it's money that determines your abilities as a writer and not your skillset. A Bachelor's isn't going to teach you that or get people to suddenly like your stuff. I can try to help you earn more profits, but nothing is ever guaranteed. Maybe my way of thinking is wrong and you lose stuff. That's a scary thought and why I say don't take my word as the gospel. I'm a man with very unusual tastes for better or worse.

 

Now let's backtrack into what I would do. Would I personally delete this? No. I would want players to hate this scene. I WANT players not to feel in control. I'm very anti silent protag and this is actually where I'd go from there. The protag is their own character you simply guide or control for the most part but sometimes they disagree with you. It's very tongue and cheek at first but as the game progresses it becomes much more apparent as time went on going so far as witnessing a character dying that you care about and would be so easy to save...except the protag is walking away and you can try fighting them watching them struggle to slowly move away from them. And of course after all that, I'd have the PC turn towards the player and say, "Never forget who's really in control." Simple example of a buildup and the impacting scene.

 

I don't get the full picture like Jan does so I can only speculate and suggest which let's say Jan dumped a 40-50 page document explaining everything to understand the whole plotline of Rejuv. That's a short book btw for stuff like this so you get the idea. I'd take a look at it and offer little bits of concerns, worries, or maybe things that I don't understand or like. This is a later passage early so I'll keep it in a spoiler but this will give you an idea:

 

Spoiler

"So I was looking through this book and one thing that really stood out to me is this interceptor idea. I'm particularly not a fan of it because immortality is a turn off since it removes the sense of threat or danger which is even harder to work with for a character that is just a brick wall. But if you ware going to go this route, you'll have to implement it better into the earlier parts as really a hard sell with falling into a volcano and blasted being really the only indicators. Could you explain to me the whole point of this is as it seems pretty important but I'm not really getting the picture."

 

Let's just say you better have a good answer to what I asked. If I get a wishy-washy answer, I'll tell you to go back and rewrite it so you can give me a definite and hard answer. I get the idea of going with the flow or freehanding it at points but you better have a solid end goal or things will end up a mess. And people think the best stage for criticism is at this time writing parts of the run. That's false imo. For me, the best part is during the storyboard draft. There's a lot I could've placed input into by asking questions from a full scope point or go "this is important and you're not dwelling enough to planning it" or "I think there's too much noise here but this other segment is dead. Maybe you could alter these events." There's less moving parts so changes are easier. I'd also give homework for thinking and here's 3 easy ones to improve the writing:

 

1. What are 3 things you dislike about Melia?

2. Why does the player have to travel back in time?

3. Name a couple RPGs you liked and a couple you disliked and why

 

First question is to help with creating flaws to a character. I absolutely hate something about every character I make even if it's shoved to the back of my mind. You see that username. I love the character I wrote (I picked that one for the username for a reason), but it does annoy me how much damn undeserved praise he gets. Really good plot point and character development because of that irritation. Second question is simply a sense of relevance. It's not so much answering this question but thinking about it as it lets you notice things. The last is simply to help gravitate towards someone's writing style. You tend to get what a creator is going for by their interests and often can get a better picture. That's a bit more personal connection stuff which gives more tailored feedback. That's not my job.

 

Basically when you look at it from all angles, all I technically should do is just crap on this game. Just point out all the flaws and issues I had and be done. Like for the above "this really jarring and it irritates me." That's really it. I don't that makes for good entertainment so obviously I go way beyond. This is mostly for the people reading this. If Jan uses it and improves the game in his own way, great, but all he should get from me is critical thinking. Technically the people Rejuv should listen to are the sheer number complaints for issues that drag the game down like the Zetta & Geara fight. Everybody knows that fight is an issue. Probably should be the number one priority to fix. So if you want me to elaborate or go over something I skimmed, tell me as this stuff is for you guys. Also a method to torture my brain to focus more on school work as I'd rather do that than this.

 

Oh great this:

(Yes, yes I did)

(Now I know how Mexicans will feel in a year or so)

(.................................I deserve this)

(...........If this is a pun challenge you are gonna lose)

(._. JAN GET BETTER PUNS)

 

*Ahem*

 

"I see you WALLowing in pain down there"

"Is that hard to sWALLow?"

"How about you WALLtz on out of here?"

"I hate to be the barrier of bad news, but it seems you've hit the wall"

"Are you hungry? I've got some WALLburgers up here."

 

(drops mic) That's how awful puns are done, folks

 

(Surprised you didn't make a castle with all the time you've had on your hands)

(Oh great. Someone I both loathe and relish. The worst kind of feeling)

(I don't care what anyone tells you, I think this thing is stupid)

(I'm glad I'm not...why are you guys even on it? I forgot logic doesn't make sense)

(And this is the Magma Drift TM if you didn't get it)

(Well it is big and hard...)

(Because that'd make too much sense. Also because you didn't listen to her in the first place which would've kept Aelita from dying. Val, you're the source of all my problems)

(Honey, hide the kids. It's rant time)

 

You don't make memes. Memes are just creations people take which are often bad or displeasing (or very unknown) and make a giant inside joke out of it everyone can laugh or enjoy at. I like some memes but let's all be honest that memes are stupid and when explaining it to somebody not in the group, you just look stupid. Welcome to the real world. I honestly don't know what kind of person Jan is making this for. I'd really take a bet for younger people since it has many of the childish things kids love. I'll just tell you right now, memes are a terrible strategy market to get people to like something. Humor is complex and you really need to nail it on the head when you do. A serious or dark game can be funny. You've got Mother 3, Chrono Trigger, FFIX. You could make arguments but when you look below the surface those games really have a lot of dark elements and concepts.

 

And I've said before that even if it's a major problem or gripe, don't delete it or completely rewrite. Either suck it up and get over it or work with it. Saki is an immature either college kid or high schooler. What I'd do is have her go into complete military officer persona and absolutely go ham on Val's backtalk. I haven't done something like this in a while so here we go. It'd be something like this.

 

Saki: "Long time no see, Private Mandy. Glad to see you're still hanging in there."

Val: "Private Mandy? What's with the persona all of a sudden?

Saki: "We're not playing games, Private Sea. WE. ARE. AT. WAR. And we will not stop until the enemy general is licking the dirt off of my boots. Ain't that right, Private Rock?

Adam: I feel like I'm going to be sick.

Val: Why didn't you install seat belts?

Saki: Did I hear a bunch of crying babies? Do you know what babies are good for? Nothing. They just cry. Tell me, Private Sea. Are you a baby?

Val: *Sigh* No, m'am.

Saki: I can't hear youuuuuu

Val: NO, M'AM!

Saki: Good. Now Private Mandy, I am sure you have many questions such as what I what the hell is this thing, but we do not have the time. Just remember that if you really believe in something and you work hard, you can make any dream a reality. That and 2 years of experience in mechanical engineering. Now as your commanding officer, I'll give you one order and one order only: Go kick some ass. Failure is not an option. Saki out!

 

Less is more sometimes. Especially when you do WTF moments as you just want to get in and get out as soon as possible leaving the player perplexed at what just happened letting their brain slowly process it. There's also stuff that we call implied information. Obviously, Saki is the one who built this after being frustrated at Val shutting her down. We can also assume they all met up and agreed to "control" this thing or something. Doesn't matter. I personally don't like WTF moments unless it's important to the plot (like a plot twist) as it just slows things down. It's just like with jokes. You get in there, get the laughs, and don't overstay your welcome.

(Your best friend is a fox. Are you part hound by any chance?)

(This is sadly the most character development you ever got in the game)

(I better get to work. Starting with the guy who stole 50 Poke from me)

(Oh hello face I barely remember)

(How in the...did they also install a rail gun while waiting? How much time on their hands did they have? Don't answer that)

(Sure. I'm sure this totally won't come back to bite me later)

(.......Don't tell me)

 

Son of a bitch. This is V11 stuff but I think I'm going to be hesitant to trust Reina right away.

(This is what I come back to. How fitting.)

 

So fun fact, this segment was started before V12 was released. Now V12 is released and now you know where I picked up. It happens. Hopefully I'll get more of these out instead of taking like forever, but at this point I think you guys just accept that. But hey, we're not replaying the game so any progress is good progress in my book.

(Don't talk about her with me. I'm not looking forward to Chapter...15?)

(Thankfully, I did so before they could drown. At least they all had a lot of alone time)

(Oh the irony here. I wish we saw Amber more)

(Well looks like somebody is interrupting my scene)

(Oh hey, Eli. Sorry I missed the poker game last night. Tough times ahead of me)

(Better than most English he has)

(They will eventually, Karen)

(To be fair, they've been on this mountain so long they built a way. Part of that is my fault. Surprised Eli isn't speaking Shakespear at this point)

(Scary he is. Terrified, I am.)

(And...here's comes that part of Rejuv where I go off on a rant. Not like this one had enough of these already)

(Last guy I saw quit went poof. I don't think it's that simple)

(And there it is)

(........I'm just going to skip to the rant)

 

I get it. Xen was designed around the concept of death which is why Madame X has a Yveltal. It's pretty obvious Yveltal just drains their souls up and it becomes even more apparent in the following chapter. No idea what Madame X wants to do with all those souls but it's supposed to be this big deal. The problem is that it's waved in front of our face over and over never giving us anything else so we're just stuck with Madame X killing people for no apparent reason. If my theory about who Madame X is right, I think it becomes a bit easier to understand everything. Anyways, Team Xen just isn't exciting anymore. The admins are interesting but don't feel like threats and the peak really was at Blacksteeple for them. They feel less threatening after that (think about it this is the last time we face grunts until V11 postgame).

(......This is some cheesy determination)

(And...I actually don't have this battle)

(Meet the team. I forgot I used a Slowbro. Never used it ever again)

(well, I guess that's enough for a battle)

 

I have data backed up until the Geara and Zetta fight so I can redo and record those. Thankfully, I have all the Ch 14 stuff done and really don't have to worry much about that. Wait, did Eli and Sharon get sprite updates. They look nice.

(Guess you'll die now. Or not. Maybe Madame X is on a holiday)

(I'm surprised Xen members aren't an extinct species for how much they failed. They like lost to so many different trainers)

(Whelp, time for Zetta and Geara)

(Or that)

(Do it! Do it! You won't)

(Eh, there's worse ways to go.)

(Wait...)

 

I didn't notice that before but that's some unusual detail. Sharon probably is related to something about the 7 kingdoms. I'm not sure but Crescent really wants her gone as you'll see in a minute.

(Way to shove yourself into the situation, Crescent)

(This would be our third meeting)

(Would you like to check on her? I can arrange for that)

(That's...unfortunately true)

(I'm pretty sure she did want this)

(Eli is sad so I am sad. Alex, play the sad music)

(It's a 3 step process. Step 1) Get close to the ledge. Step 2) Feel my fist Step 3) Have a nice fall)

(Guess it's Spring now)

(Hooray for Chibi images. No idea why they occur but they do)

(Can I just go fight Geara now? That's less suffering than this which is saying a lot)

(Eh. It'll probably work out in the end. Helping people usually is a good thing)

(I would if someone would just tell me.)

(Is this the "everything you know is a lie" cliche?)

 

Tell me, would you save a Wooloo from falling off a cliff? Don't you dare do that, Jan. Don't you dare. I am a protector of fluffy things. You mess with the fluff, you get the puff (in smash)

(Sure. She's cute. Cute people are always worth saving)

(Agreed. Just a bunch of nonsense with no explanation. Typical early game Rejuv)

(And we won't find out about it for 7 more chapters)

 

That's it? Huh. Finally got a chapter done. What were we talking about? I guess all I have to gripe about is something that can't be changed. One issue I think people have (I mean beyond me) is going through tension withdrawal. Bladestar just does not really deliver as main antagonists which in fact I felt a different character felt more like a better antagonist over them for that segment. The problem is having stockpile twists. It's basically witholding information for the sake of holding it for a twist or reveal later to explain stuff. If you do it too much, you find yourself having a hard time really communicating or executing all the reveals. It's one of the rare situations where too few is better than too many. Having too few means you need to put emphasis and focus on them being the best they can be. Recall your favorite scene in your favorite RPG (if you say it's Reborn or Rejuv I will slap you silly and make you play a different RPG). Go back and watch taking notice of everything that happens in that scene. Let's just go with the Aerith death scene. That scene was made with absolute silence when she was stabbed.

 

What's my favorite scene? That's a good question. I'd have to go with Jin vs Margulis 2nd battle in Xenosaga II because I absolutely love that fight scene. It just felt well made and honestly very animated for a low budget PS2 game. Well they got a budget cut iirc. Not much happens in that scene so you hone your focus in on all the action.

[Dex]

Maybe it's something on my end, but half your pictures aren't showing up.

 

1 hour ago, Commander said:

(How in the...did they also install a rail gun while waiting? How much time on their hands did they have? Don't answer that)

 

Considering how much plot stuff happens before you can even get the HM needed to scale the mountain. . . . all I'm going to say is the players should be thankful they didn't just jump us with the whoe team the second we entered the moutain. 

[Commander]

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

 

So guys, I'm a little grumpy right now. I just got through 300 pics for a chapter and not only does my computer restart but Reborn didn't save the backup just in case. I'm not mad about having to redo this. I'm mostly mad I have to redo all of the Geara lines since those take forever. This single battle truly is my suffering. Let's try this again and I will stay up all night to finish this just so I don't have to deal with it again. Sorry if it isn't as good as the first one. Also hi, I'm not dead. I just had to deal with school stuff. Now I only have to deal with grown up stuff which also sucks. Anyways enjoy the chapter or what's left of it.

 

Chapter 59: Ze Battle Zat Never Endz

 

So I had this feel good rant here and because I'm lazy and don't want to spend another hour rewriting it here's the short version: GF lazy and people praise them for it. Jan hard worker. Jan not like GF. Jan put good effort and time. SwSh sux. Play Kiseki instead.

 

This run is cursed. At least I don't have to reupload every single image again though if you are following this run still...bless you, but get help. There's better things to do than watch an inferior run of a guy who does a nuzlocke and is funnier. All I'm good for is pissing people off. Also because I'm lazy any caption with Venam is getting an emoticon to save effort and time.

 

()

()

()

(And here we come to this again)

()

(Venam is something as you can tell)

 

Okay emoticons are taking too much time. I guess complaining or terrible jokes are faster. Cringe it is!

(Honey, if people listened we wouldn't be in this mess)

(You know, I didn't realize this before so I guess I have something new to talk about)

(You know when something is so close but really misses the mark)

(Has Melia even won any battles since Blacksteeple. She's on a massive losing streak thinking on it)

(Okay, now is a good point to talk about the good and old)

 

You know how I probably go too far with my ranting, I think this is one of those that I may be a bit more on point. After seeing this basically a third time, I actually noticed something so easily missed. Jan really missed a good line having an argument between Melia and Venam. I'm going to be honest in that I feel like Venam should have really told Melia off. If anyone would know about stupidly charging ahead and taking things on alone, it'd be her. Melia basically is handing herself over on a silver platter and this basically just gets glazed over. I skimmed over it because it's kind of boring that I kind of just forgot about it. Boring is worse than bad. Sonic 06 was a bad game yet well remembered. Who remembers the name of the 6th CoD game? I think that was Black Ops 2. You get my point. More people have played the latter, but more people recall the former. Very useful tip not a lot of people will tell you. I'm not telling you to write badly, I'm merely saying to take risks and go further.

 

And now for the better rant...

(A smart idea)

(Well she went from saying something dumb to something smart. We're hot and cold today)

 

Seriously, this plan is the classic dumb hero tactic. Only game I'd argue delivered especially with the decoy was Mario and Luigi Superstar saga. That moment was absolute gold. Anyways, this trope is just gonna happen sometimes and beyond an eyeroll is not that big of a deal. Don't worry, I have plenty to complain about and we haven't even hit the fight itself. If I were to gripe about it, it would have to do more with plot convenience. Obviously, all stories have plot conveniences because there ain't no damn way the hero hits a dungeon at the right time to meet character XXX who is a main antagonist. There's just stuff like this that's pushing it. Melia came up with a brilliant plan and is praised for it. Personally, I think this just shows incompetence because maybe the battle at the end was the main point and the writer couldn't think of a better way to execute what was needed. There's a reason why you need at least a month at minimum to plan and lay out a story. It's a jigsaw puzzle of two sets each with pieces that fit in the other but when complete don't fit every piece. Eventually you get to wrangle it down where it's self contained and work on it slowly but surely then.

 

Rejuv's story when you look at the full scope is a hot mess. Reborn's might have a hot mess of an ending but we'll have to wait and see. It happens. You'll have people who will defend it saying it's great probably because they are thinking in the moment. But let's just talk about it (Major story spoilers):

 

Spoiler

Team Xen is the true center to see just how messy it truly is. They go from terrorists who are hated and the main focal point to side characters for a good 30% of the game if not more. And the members are sympathetic seeing as they are forced to do this and are human to feel bad for them. And we team up with them to stop another terrorist group who is set up to be the main focus but have the rug swept right out from under them. And the main antagonist all along is working with an entirely different team we know nothing about all tied in to time travel.

 

Remember Geara, Nastashia, and Neved? These are supposed to be main baddies. Oh and we have to worry about Angie as well. And who knows what Madelis is doing at this point.

 

And remember that this is just a small, small fragment. It's a giant unfocused mess with the attention spam of a dog in a field of tennis balls. If we remove the whole gym challenge system, can anyone even tell me what this game is about? You know what since people see most of the negative what I'll do at the end of the chapter is categorize a lot of subjects and give a letter grade. I hate this because it makes people judge and quick to think but maybe it would give a better visual representation of what I think of Rejuv. There. I made a terrible thing that may start fires to come, but whatever.

(Just watch the disconnection between these two)

(Wow, I just didn't notice how that flowed. Bleh!)

 

I honestly would picture Venam saying more along the lines of "Then stop charging ahead. Burnt my ass on the way up here." 

(GOD DAMMIT WHY DID MY STUFF HAVE TO BE DELETED! HELP! Get me out of this)

(Well please don't let me relive that a third time...technically a fourth time now that I think about it)

 

So first off, I don't hate this scene. But I am reminded why I stopped for months and months never wanting to continue this run. Actually, I'm kidding. I don't hate Rejuv, but it just takes so much time just to do even a simple short chapter like this. I'm a little out of groove so it is taking longer than normal. That and the Frenchera stuff which I probably wouldn't do if it wasn't Christmas and it's going to be my suffering present for you to rewrite all of that. Anyways, I mostly have just been busy and just needed to focus on other stuff before this. I'm not going to promise consistent chapters but we shouldn't have to wait very, very long times for an update. Also have to deal with getting a new car since the one I have is slowly falling apart and people are hovered over me to trade it in. That is considered a minor life event compared to everything else I've been dealing with. So I'm going to answer that yes I do get tired of working hours on end for this which is like a week of not doing it and I'm recharged. 

 

I do have to rethink how I want to handle the rest of this run. Everything we see right now is tame. Everything past this point is start of such a mess to discuss I don't even know how to even approach it. GDC is both great and some of the worst writing in the game even at the same exact time kind of mess. The best way I can describe it is a man jogging up a waterfall backwards in a bikini. And this dumbass will do his best to try and get through it to explain what he's seeing which we may reach a point where I realize I'm not even reading English anymore. Like we're venturing into stuff I when even story drafting cannot even perform at all kinds of stuff. That's a ways away though, but something I guess to look forward to. I guess I can give a quick teaser:

 

"There's pretty much 6 levels of writing you could categoerize stuff in: poor, good, great, fantastic, genius and garbage. The line between genius and garbage is a thin straw that one misstep and you go right down the garbage chute." When we talk about the "Genius" level, take everything I have said and harped on and throw it out the window because we are in a whole different league. It has nothing to do with anything I've said. You aren't gonna see it in books, you aren't going to see critics talk about it, and you will never, ever see anyone suggest doing something like it. You either have some vague idea what it is or think I'm a madman for harping on a subject. I'll make it simple for now: there's no rulebook because it doesn't exist. GDC everyone. What a wild ride. Anyways, back to the realm of ze zane:

(Murphy's law. Always prepare for Murphy's law)

 

My nuzlocke tales always have something bad happen. Lost my superweapon for Wallace to a Horn Drill Seaking in ORAS after a very, very long deathless streak. On the bright side, I may be able to get a Regi.

(And now it's time for the final moments of the legend himself. I am not ready for ze revival)

 

*Ahem*

(Ah ze blonde baby haz arrived. Ze lateness ez unforgivings)

(What has it been a year now? Nim is gonna kill me, isn't she? I'm as slow as SIE with making the Last Guardian)

(Ze order. Zwei muz make zure ze order ez in order.)

(Hold zon! Zis zmell. Zi zmell ze zmell of ze fishies)

(Zose lipz. Zey move like ze zupid dubz of ze Japaneze! And with ze terrible zound quality. Zi cannot hear zoo)

(Zi underzand. Zi too zound like Tara Zong when zi haz ze fever)

(Zwei muz move on. Come with me. Ze girl ez in ze next area)

(Yes, let's move to an open area where everyone can spot us)

(Zere ez zomething zi muz tell zoo. Zoo zound like za bitch. Zut ze bitch up and let ze Geara ezplain what zwei zall do)

(Ze girl ez worthless zlap to zus. Once zu hit ze teleporter, zwei zall leave for ze babies to collect)

(One job. You had one job and you screwed it up. Literally all you had to do is let them teleport the Zoroark. It's just a Pokemon. You can catch another in a temple)

(Ze logic of zis baby ez zero. Do zhou not underzand plan of ze excellenze)

 

I have fury!

(Zilenze. Ze joke is NO MOAR!)

(Zwei are waiting for ze moment of perfezon)

(Zetta, haz ze Purrloin zlaughtered ze tongue? Zilence haz become zoo)

(Zwei muz move on. When Zi zaid ze joke ez NO MOAR, zat waz za lie)

(Zere ez a jokezar here. Zay zar very funny. Many laughs from ze Geara)

(But now ze baby's joke ez funny NO MOAR. Now Zi zall bring ze closing to it)

(I'm shocked they though it'd actually work. Also I imagine my chara is going "Not this shit again")

(Ze Geara ez no joker. Ze zees through ze baby trick with eaze)

(Ze Geara ez zo smart zat zey would never zay zomething zis zupid and arrogant)

(Now my Princess Dragon Waifu Warrior, destroy ze babies while zi take on ze blonde baby)

 

And hold as I have a few pics of me cheesing this battle because I just couldn't beat it any other way. It's not ridiculously hard, but it isn't easy. Just I didn't have a good team and I really didn't want to spend an hour doing this whole dungeon again. Remember that. We're going to talk about that in a minute.

(Ah the return of Yeetder. It has truly been a long while since you made an appearance)

(And we're gonna assume the next lines are Geara since he is the leader here)

(Ze salt pillar zoo call a friend. Zi zould pitch her into ze kettle for ze zoup)

(But zi won't az zi am caring and understand Geara. And profezional babyzitter)

(If ze babies behave, ze Geara will not eat well tonight az ze getz what ze wantz)

(Venam, you have done more harm than good here. Please just sit this one out)

(Oh boy more unexplained stuff for like half the game)

 

Okay now for a more personal rant. I'm bad at this as well but I usually tend to leave hints or at least unload most of it beforehand often rewriting stuff to avoid it, but I hate when information is just saved to be teased later. Sometimes devs completely forget about it then because of it. I mean look at me. I say I'll explain stuff at the end but I'm sure you can count the times I forgot. I honestly kind of wish we got to explore Zetta more as he's kind of a two faced character I feel needed more time to really explain him, but it is what it is. But the idea to build everything up and reveal it all at the very end is often a terrible idea. It's easy to assume you need a lot of teases in order to catch players to push towards the end. If they aren't interested in this goal, they will be to see this at least. It's a very understandable mindset. But in reality, you just need one. "Why are you doing this?" You could have every questioned answered but that exact one is why people will go to the end. In pokemon, it's simple "To become the strongest." It's simple and it's brilliant storytelling. This is where writing a game story and writing a book kind of differ. You are the character. That makes a lot of differences and how to approach it. 

(It's because of is a man of culture)

(Ze noize. It ez speaking of badness. Zwat could zit mean?)

(Zi zee. Ze plan ez zin near zambles due to ze new zupid profezzor)

(Zinner)

(Why is he still not pulling the line. Or running. Literally still have time to fix this)

(Zoo zupid, zupid profezzor. Let zus give zim ze pain of za Shedinja trapped in ze dezzert with za Trapinch)

(And now we get to the absolute fun part)

(Ze zupids. Zu zave been infected with ze zupids)

(Now zi mercy is NO MOAR! Zi funny french accent ez NO MOAR! And now ze script ez NO MOAR. There is not a pain in this world that cannot show the rage built up in me now. Ah, perhaps the French is needed. The no french is NO MOAR!)

(Ze zinking ez NO MOAR! Zere ez not za body here zat zinks anywayz. Zu zar all babiez zat only cry when zings go wrong and zey wonder into danger in ze rage)

(Zi am done with zall zis zit. Zwei had jolly times with ze band and zis ez how ze genourzity of ze Geara ez repaid. And worze zet, zour zinger haz loz all hope and zall never zing again. Zey cannot even zink zate anymore. Ze horror. And zit ez all zese babiez fault)

(Sorry, I'm in the zone and I need to channel all my energy into my Frenchanese)

(Zour zu done? Zat waz zweet zand zall, but zu zave no reazon to zeak az ze daddy. Zwat did zoo do to prepare baby for ze manhunt. Baby is not man, but baby. All zu did waz give ze zweet pleazantries to ze baby to zuff zem like za pazree zef. Zand now zu zay and play ze hero. Zu zar no hero. Zu are just ze coward. And ze coward wanted to make ze baby happy for ze zelf zatisfying dad zey believe, but zat waz all for nothing. Zu are nothing. And zis zory haz no need for zu. But zi do have ze use for zu. Zu zall make ze finest of ingredients in ze zoup of zef Geara. Now zi azzizant ze waifu chicken princezz warrior zall do ze honorz)

 

What? We're retiring this man after this chapter. If we're going to end this joke, we're going full on. It's kind of sad it's ending, but we'll find something else to do instead. And besides it's my run. I do what I want. And I'll go over this beautiful mess in a minute.

(Ze zmell. Ez delectable)

(Ah ez ze baby crying. Zee what zi mean? All babies zar good for ez crying)

(Zat line waz crossed za long time ago. Zi spent many month with zis zaussage fezt. And zou ruined everything!)

(Zay zat to zee woman with ze OP zord)

(I think ze baby haz loss ze mind. Zho ze ez a blond zo maybe ze never had one to begin with)

(Zar zu done. All zu people do ez cry and cry zome more. If zu really want to zow uz zor rezolve, zen zop zis ze crying and put ze fiz up. Men don't cry, only babies do. Men zolve zeir own problemz. Now if zu really want to be za man, zen zu better zu uz how to fight like one.)

(Zor zis zall be zor end)

 

Well we have a lot to unwind here. I mean the scene is good. I'm sorry but I just don't like Geara here. I know he's supposed to be some edgy teen or something but it just doesn't flow that well compared to everyone else who is alright. He goes from this cocky I'm smarter than you guy acting like he has a calm and collected mind and goes a little rash and pitches Jenner into the pits. And there's not much reaction. Sure Melia says stuff, but then we jump straight into a battle. When doing those lines, I didn't care what was on the pages and if it was good or bad. I was just so into that scene on what you could do. There was not a single taunt from Geara with is just such a let down. Even a simple "Why so emotional? I just did you a favor. You hated him after all." It's more of a missed opportunity than a criticism. Also reminds me to reiterate a point:

 

Somebody being killed is unimportant. You could kill a lot of people and you could kill nobody. It's how to handle the concept that's important. A lot of people have the misconception that death is the ultimate tragedy when it also could be the ultimate blessing or even a happy moment. It's all about the moments leading up and more importantly the moment right after. And the aftermath of it. Victoria and Solaris is the best one to look at since it uses the same basic concept here. Go back and read the E16 segment and that just absolutely shows what a death can do to someone.

 

And now picks from a fight I erased from my memory:

(Was this all the same battle, I don't know but I guess it's context time)

 

So the strat basically was spam rock slide but change the field first. That Snorlax is the reason this was a pain. I had to hope it'd be a sponge because I had to set everything up and I only have control of one side of the field. Excluding a couple fights, I'd say most boss fights are pretty well designed allowing you to feel your way around for the difficulty. I wouldn't blame someone for quiting here. And I know people are going to go "But it's not that hard. See, I can do it." I hate Reborn's Glass Factory and I think it was poorly done, but that one is a small gripe compared to the issues I have with this fight. I'm going to need people reading this to take off their elitist pants for a minute and just think about this for a moment:

 

Let's start off with the fight itself. It's difficult. I don't think there's a single person who would go "Oh, that's an easy fight." Their teams are endgame level teams. We're talking Reborn lategame kind of designs. This is for both Intense and Normal. You can use the EV argument but from my experience they don't matter that much only really swinging a mon slightly on a scale for difficulty. We're not even halfway into this game either right now. So when you shoot things up in difficulty like this it can give a bad impression things are just going to get worse from here on out since the normal person thinking things just get progressively harder and not uneven boss difficulty. Like the remainder of the game is easy because I'm expecting this for every fight. Many of you in a small group may feel like this is some climatic finale to close an arc, but for a lot of people including myself this is just a chapter. Not some big major ground breaking point where we put everything in knowing things will calm down. Players aren't devs.

 

And here's the real kicker: good luck grinding or training a new team. The best method is to pull out of this really long and painful dungeon to go out and battle a breeder. So you have to begrudgingly leave and solve the puzzle (I think I may have softlocked it trying to escape) and then begrudgingly grind to go back up this place and pray your team is able to do this with a partner that is terrible and more of a handicap. It's one thing dealing with a tough team, but another with someone who barely does anything and hinder you more. And I think the real kick in the groin when someone begs for help to get through this is that people will say "just change the field." Being honest, it's doubtful any player is familiar with this concept or has bothered to even learn about it since field effects people just skim over and ignore. And the main strat is to make use of something a player probably doesn't understand. It's just a call for motivation drain and sheer frustration.

 

So yeah, I have a lot of dislike for this fight. I'd honestly like to never have to deal with this fight ever again. I'm not going to do a video on it even if I replay this part to get pics and videos for the segments I skipped. Sure, call me a hypocrite or a baby crying over things getting tough. I obviously can play and design mons and can do competitive stuff,  but I really don't have that much of an interest to dedicate so much time to be really good or max my mons. I just want to play and enjoy a game. It's actually stuff like this that makes me dread picking up Rejuv. Probably not going to do challenge modes since I know jack about Gen 8 (even Gen VII I'm behind in knowledge). But anyways, let's move on from this subject on how much I loved that battle.

 

And I'm missing images. Hooray! Let's see how my memory goes. It was something about victory and Melia is pulling Nim since Geara and Zetta are out of mons in which Geara is...oh boy...how am I going to handle this. I must borrow the energy from the me who started this run who was actually funny lend me your power to get through this. But seriously, you just start running out of jokes after a certain point. Nobody has a million things to say. Except Donald Trump. He'll find an excuse for his excuses.

(Zu think zu have won, but zit ez ze Geara zoo haz won)

(Now, zis zew ez mizzing zomezing. Zi know, ze zalt. And zwei zave just what zwei need)

(And just ze right amount too)

(You know, I was going to save this, but I do want to talk about this)

 

I have mixed feelings about plans going awry in writing. I mean every story plans never goes as intended let's be honest. I mean where things just take a turn for the worst and the mission is failed miserably usually involving sacrifices. On one hand, it adverts expectations as you always know you're going to succeed or at least not fail more or less. On the other hand, it just brings a sour mood. It's a waste of time putting all that effort in. It's just never a good feeling. But it can be really good as it can be used later to develop characters and even really build up for something great. I'm talking in general. We'll get to Rejuv later on this. Different kind of beast. I guess my personal feelings for Nim being thrown into the lava is just jarring. One person was killed off and you immediately kill the other invalidating everything the first person did. Jenner may as well not have been in the game at this point. Just poof him in the first chapter never to be seen again. Wouldn't have changed anything. 

 

And I think I'm missing more dialogue....why am I so bad at this. Guess we're Geprovisationra. That's lame. Guess we're gonna French it!

(Are zu done with ze playtime? Zi am babysitter NO MOAR! Zis zall be ze last zi zee zu, baby. Come, Zetta. Zwei take ze zitch and go)

(Well, this is awkward. Is someone gonna help?)

(Wait! Don't leave me Chicken Waifu. I need you)

(Guess I can say I'm finally scorching hot)

(Anyone? Anyone? This burns more than the pit.)

 

Let's talk about something not in Rejuv: killing the protagonist. I have a lot of respect for any game that does this. You rarely find it and even rarer is midway through a game. Any game that does this deserves mad respect because it's not easy switching from something someone is comfortable with. I said before, you are that character and while it does break immersion, it also leaves an impact. I'm not going to list game as that'd be spoilers but it's a concept that I wish just a few more games did. Not many, but more than we have now. Now, I'm going to just shut up and let the next stuff pan out then talk about this. I have so many feelings regarding this. Not good ones. 

(I must be in heaven. Everyone I hate is dead)

(Ah. Dying is the best thing I ever did)

(....Shit nevermind, we're in hell. Would explain the Pelipper and Wingull)

(So Crescent is from hell, makes sense)

(Eh, I hate the outdoors. If I could, I'd like to live in a cozy home where all I have to do is nap. But here I am, sitting on a bench in hell talking to someone I loathe. This truly is my eternal punishment)

(Sums up my feelings for this run. Feels pointless, but we keep it going)

(I'm a millennial. We aren't good at that kind of stuff)

(Yeah, some edgy teenager sent me to hell)

(What a weird way to die)

(Meh. I've been through worse. I mean did you see that castle?)

(You think the protag would learn after fuckup I think 30 now. The winning streak ain't high)

(I guess that's true)

(Fire Emblem in a nutshell. Why people love that series is still a mystery...of the emblem)

(I assume that was figments of my imagination no matter how much I want it to be true...except for the dead mother and Nim drowning part)

(Lady, it was a linear path. Hell is a place where all freedom is taken. I didn't have a say on whether or not I follow them)

(Or it's hell. Probably hell)

(My theory makes more sense, but if this is my memory, why are you here? I have no idea who you even are)

(Why am I getting a motivational speech from someone Deus Ex Machina?)

(Sigh...sadly you are right. This ain't a run that people want, it's the one that is needed. Batman was right all along)

(You're right. It's chrome)

(Those who seek to avoid their destinies tend to be those that set them afoot)

(I'm on a journey with a talking fox to stop a madwoman who fights with a sword. On top of that, I'm dead. I don't think we can get any stranger)

(Nah, I'm going to bed. It's 3am and almost Christmas)

(I WOULD BUT MY MOTHER IS DEAD!)

 

*Ahem* I'm going to be real honest about this Crescent scene. Having to deal with and look at so many characters I hate and that writing oh that writing is really good. Heh. Bet you all thought I was going to say it was bad. Seriously, the game just 180s as when I complain about something in one scene, it delivers in the next. It's a really good scene and I like all the little details that can be analyzed from it. Shows a bit more of Crescent and it explains what you experienced. Sure we don't know the "Why" but we do know the "What" which is good. Not all questions need answers. So now let me get onto the other topic you might be interested on:

 

The whole protag dying and coming back to life. I'm neutral on it. And before anyone says anything, we're not talking about Rejuv...again. It's not that uncommon someone comes back to life. I don't hate it. You can do some really cool stuff with it like having characters relive past memories and even explore the souls of the dead and have conversations with them. Or they come back to life using a magical power. You get the idea. It's not uncommon and it's not one of those terrible ideas. Now in comic books there's the people dying like 3-4 times and coming back to life after a short period where it gets old with the retcons or fake deaths. Blame them for faking deaths being frowned upon in society.

 

Also, I know it's a weird place to stop, but I segment these off after a large number of pics and we hit a large number. Obviously, the next one won't come until after Christmas but the run is back and it only took writing this chapter twice to do it. And soon, soon I can retire the legend and never have to do another one of those lines again...at least for a very, very long time. And for the other thing I promised:

 

 

Grading for Rejuv:

Spoiler

Main Story: D

Sub-plots (Chapter by chapter average): C+

Sidequests: A

Characters: C-

Main Gameplay (Boss Battles aka normal Pokemon Stuff): C

Side Gameplay (Optional Missions/Unique Systems): A

Music: C+ (Most tracks don't stand out. + is mostly from Zumi made music)

Graphics: B

Animations (Overworld): B+

Difficulty/Balance: B

 

[Commander]

Dear Computer: stop restarting overnight

 

Sincerely: A guy sick of writing the same thing over twice

 

Okay, I didn't get far and this chapter isn't long but I've been a bit distracted. But let's just get this show on the road. And for the sake of my sanity and getting this chapter done, I'm not doing Frenchera. Maybe I'll edit them in afterwards but that's something easy to do over time then holding a chapter up. Actually, that isn't a bad idea. But let's just get this done in a night to prevent this problem:

 

Chapter 60 Ze End of Za Geara

 

What? I like my puns. Anyways, I'm just going to talk about two of the stupidest pieces of news going around. It's like so stupid. Well I have three pieces of news I want to talk about but the one is a really good thing and ties into this whole mess having to do with Pokemon. I'll just give you the short version: Oh my god will the fandom just grow the fuck up?

 

Let me just start with Sword and Shield. I think people have a right to be upset about the base game as it was rushed. They had to meet a deadline and couldn't design everything they wanted to so it can be interpreted as a half finished game. I'm mostly talking about all the standstill moves and the weird design choices like the frozen ladder. And even the wild weather (and especially how bad the online raid system is). Those are very valid complaints and criticisms. They make for some bumps in a product impacting anyone's enjoyment. It's entertainment at the end of the day. It doesn't need to be perfect. Moving that aside I'm just mostly pissed about one of the biggest arguments on why the new DLC is bad. No, it's not the price. Well it's two things now that I think about it: the fact it wasn't in the base game and Pokemon being exclusive to those areas.

 

Let's just start with the pricing. It can't be free. Sorry, but that's an unrealistic illusion people have. A lot of time and labor had to be put in to expand and work on a game so it'd be stupid not to charge consumers for the product. I think they priced it too high and should be $24.99 as it is realistically making the game twice as big. Most people love the wild area and having two more really makes the price valid. If you aren't happy about that there's an easy solution: don't buy it. You don't have to buy something. There's thousands of other games you could invest that money into. If Pokemon has consumed you and you think you have to get it, you have a serious problem. I'll probably wait a full year or so for a complete edition to be released for SwSh before giving the game a try. If not that, it'll eventually go on sale. That's just me. The stupider argument is mons being exclusive to the dlc areas. If you are on this train, I'll ask you a silly question: why go to Universal Studios when Disney World exists? You have to have content exclusive to the new areas or nobody would want to explore them. If it's just 10-20 new mons and the rest can be found in the main hub, then there's barely a point to run around them. It's filler content. Without it, it'd be barren. And most of these mons you've probably used at some point in the 15 years since they've been released and you have some method to transfer them to Pokemon home to SwSh if you NEED them that badly. I think the DLC was a great idea as it lets people enjoy more of a game they enjoyed. I don't see any "bad practices here" other than the pricing being a little bit too high.

 

Next thing I want to talk about is this "Tem Tem" thing or whatever it is called where people make it sound like it's Pokemon's apocalypse. Every PokeTuber out there could jump off a cliff and Pokemon would lose like $100 in profits from it. There have been Pokemon "knockoffs" and like since Gen 1. It's actually an RPG genre usually referred to as a monster tamer RPG. Digimon is a classic one and Yokai Watch also is. I'm trying to think of the GBC series that was almost a straight ripoff of Pokemon. TemTem is running off the MMO thing which it's hard to say how long that will last. Could shut down by the end of the year. Point is Pokemon is going anywhere. A good example to show this is the Final Fantasy series who dominated the RPG genre for a long time (do you see how many people are hyped for that FFVII remake?) Final Fantasy's downfall was Final Fantasy. They just made a one infamously hated game and it just sunk to being in the middle of the pack but now we have lots of RPGs getting changes to stand out and thrive. As long as Pokemon delivers what the fans want, they'll continue to dominate.

 

The last thing is simply talking about the Mystery Dungeon Remake. That's how you make a remake. The graphics alone are worth the 60 bucks for me. Or is it 50? Nintendo has muh money. Oh, now I remember what I was going to talk about. Nobody asked for a Mystery Dungeon remake. But they did it and I feel a lot of people are happy about it. They could have done a port and they'd make a ton, but they went the extra mile. When you go the extra mile, it shows and often is rewarded. I'm not throwing dirt at anyone but I saw a couple more Fan-games using Rejuv's tilesets pop up. A certain someone got a little upset about someone using straight up maps from Rejuv as well. The only thing I'll say is not to lose sleep over it. People know Full Moon uses assets from Reborn and Rejuv but it hasn't impacted the two games. And some of you have just heard about this game for the first time. Anyways, you can't stop it so it's best to turn your head and think of it as free advertisement.

 

Let me make one thing clear: I think everyone should be protective of their assets. It's really crappy when someone rides off of your work for asspats and praise. That's why copyright came into play. But do you see the name "Pokemon". You're stripped of all your rights and ownership of all of those assets because they infringe a property. I don't remember how the whole mess works on ownership but someone could literally take a fan-game, change the name and claim ownership of it. You can't do anything about it and it sucks. I mean website owners can because they own the websites, but that's a different story. It's stealing stolen goods in a sense. Whew, well this was an off-topic trainwreck. Now back to the part nobody wants to read:

 

(Well this is...something)

 

You know, I never saw this the first two times but that plain red in the background is ugly. It just doesn't look right. My guess it's a texture thing since everything has edges except that. Also just noticed the red lava underneath the rock edge right below the Mandy OC. Just go left 4 squares from me and you'll see it. I'm not going to gripe much because mountains are awful to build from experience. I hate them so much. Not as much as Venam, but it certainly is a close second. So something like that is so, so easy to miss and make.

(And let's get out of this hellhole. This is the thing of nightmares right here)

 

I'll be adding the Frenchera stuff over the next week so just look for a comment on the bottom saying I'm done....fuck it I'll just stay up all night and do it.

(Well his mother owns ghosts so I imagine he has a traumatic background)

(Ze fool waz zu. Zu could of zut ze lipz and move to ze zeleporter, but no. Zu had to be ze zitch zat cry to ze baby. Only ze zupids cry to za baby)

(Zeaking of babies, Zetta here zall be crying like one when ze Madame X ez done with zim. Ze traitor ez ze fool az well.)

(I imagine Zetta is so done with this mess. He lost his only friend)

(Zo if ze wine ez drunken and finished, Zwei zall leave and head to HQ)

(That can be arranged)

(Hi, I'm the man of your dreams. You dreamed of me so I have come)

(Zose lipz zar moving but zeir ez no baby to zeak to. Zave zu ze crazies?)

(Zho no! Zi have ze crazies. Ze bacon baby ez not bacon. Ze madness, zit conzumes me)

(Zere ez only one ezplanazohn. Zu zar an angel zent from ze heavens to reap my zoul. Ze Geara zees zat ze teaming with ze devil may zave not been ze best of ideaz)

 

I probably said this before and if so, it still stands. If by some miracle someone takes Rejuv's script and makes an abridged version as a mod, I will write every single Geara line in it in this style. 

(Zi juzt ezplained it zu dumb Az)

(Oh whew, a break. Pardon my French. It needs some work)

(And now the trifecta of characters I hate is here)

(Zu muz be afraid. Be zery afraid)

(And now we come to the fun times)

(By early she means 10 years instead of 100)

(You know, her ribbon makes it look like she's always angry...not that she isn't)

(There's only one thing I know what that means and it certainly isn't meant for children)

(Did I say I was bad with French? If not, I'm bad with French)

(Ze madnezz, zit ez zeading. Zop it! Zu muz leave before it zreadz more)

(Zi zee zu zall not leave. Zen forgive me, but zi muzz uze my chicken waifu warrior to zlay zu)

(Well I'm pretty sure I'm the only adult here...so probably not)

 

.........The realization Geara is one of the oldest characters in the game when you think about it.

(..........Am I the only one that thinks that name is stupid? This is coming from a guy who named a Numel Fiery)

(What ze zuck. Ez zat ze zame monster zat we took many yearz to find, but not really becauze zwei zole it from zum old guy)

 

I've always wondered if that part of WLL was canon. I miss that game already.

(I know Mewtwo can talk...this is still weird. Should've named him dude. "Hey Dude, go beat them up")

(...The Mewtwo I know would sleep in a cave beating up anyone who bugs him.)

(Yeah...I don't think that's a good idea)

(..............Okay, this definitely is not the Mewtwo I know)

 

Mewtwo is a popular Pokemon so I get the inclusion but popular mons are always the biggest risk. A lot of people are a fan of the movie Mewtwo which is what people have the impression of him being like. His character is all about being strong if not the strongest. Look at all the material he's based off of (not sure on the Manga though). Though when googling what Dranna is, I got Dr. Anna. Guess someone was busy getting their medical license. 

(Zu zon of a zitch! Zu run away like a big chicken you are. Zi want za divorze)

(.........)

(Ew! Ew! Ew! My head needs to get out of the gutter right now. That's one thing I don't want to imagine right now)

(If she's turning him into a man, I'm out. I'm jumping back into that lava pit)

(Every time I saw something regarding this it just goes down worse this rabbit hole. So Imma stay silent for a moment)

(Well this isn't what I meant when I thought she was going to fuck with Zetta)

(Ze wat? Ze mind. It cannot comprehend what zas happened)

(Zetta waz za baby all along. And ze had me fooled)

(...well okay, I guess that makes sense)

(I have many questions which I don't think will ever get answered about why he looks that way)

(Congrats, you're as worthless as half this cast)

 

Seriously, make a list of everything important someone does and then you'll kind of see the redundancy

(My name is Melia Montoya. You killed my brother. Prepare to die)

(He had no parents...actually, who the hell raised Zetta?)

(So Zetta isn't officially dead. Meh. He'll probably be back in the finale to die a hero).

(Well that was a nice break from the French).

 

I'm kind of eh on Zetta being a Solosis. I think I'll have to reference Ao no Kiseki on this though keep it rather redacted and explain it best I can. So in the finale of the game when you go back to town, you can walk around and explore it quite a bit. By doing this, a certain plot twist isn't a big shocker as you've come to know their story. Lloyd, the main character, even says it's not a shocker if you dig it all up because he understands why. If it weren't for all those little things, that antagonist really would have been more of a throwaway. Sorry for the vagueness, but I feel Zetta kind of is like that. I don't think this is bad but we don't really know much about Zetta so it's just okay. Some people are all for those big reveal drops that fool everyone, but personally I'd rather have something easy to predict written well leading up to it than a big shocker. I'm just a guy more into learning about the characters than twists to keep me on the edge of my seat. I think one or two major ones is important but twist something too much and nobody knows what's going on. Something I feel is happening to later Rejuv. That's a nightmare waiting to cover. Oh year, I was gonna talk about that later. Write all this down because it's best saved at the end here.

(Zi have no idea what ez going on)

(Talk about losing a girl you just met)

(Yes, please lay off the tight clothes. They reveal everything)

(Eh, that too.)

(And that's the last we'll hear of these two for a very, very long time)

(Oh look everyone is happy...why TF is it snowing?)

(Am I supposed to feel something because...I don't feel so...no, I refuse to finish the dead meme)

(Father and son bonding time?)

(Well that's a hot duo. I have no idea what else I'm supposed to say)

(Well it is Sunday today)

(Son of a...nobody really died, did they?)

(A journey to the center of the earth)

(That's the opposite problem from me)

(OH GOD NO!)

(Eh, fine. Though wouldn't that be my funeral too. I kind of also died)

(Gonna be weird attending my own funeral, but we've been through weirder)

 

So that's it. Yeah, I need to find the rest of the images if I made them. I can't remember. Anyways, that pretty much is the climax of act 1. Personally, I kind of hate the idea of acts having to have one big moment supposedly dropping reveals like crazy only for the plot to continue. For me personally, it has to be something drastic for it to change like an entire new world or a plan that has been set in motion. Major changes have to happen. But that's just opinion and not things really for improvement or not. Now, I get to talk about what I called "Genius writing".

 

Let me just start by explaining the human mind or mostly the male side. Something I learned in church, but there's a book called "Men are like waffles, Women are like spaghetti" which let's talk about waffles. They are meant to show structure and order. It has to make sense and it has to flow in an easy way to see and understand. Spaghetti is stringy and hard to see which often gets an emotional response. It's a tangled mess that's hard to understand. Now combine those two subjects together. It sounds like an oxymoron but it's not. You're writing absolute nonsense in a way that the readers comprehend and understand it. Virtue's Last Reward is probably a prime example what this is. So how do you write something like that? It's simply magic. No really, magic tricks are a good analogy. Take pulling a rabbit out of a hat. You know there's a trick to it, but from your perspective, it looks like the man is pulling a creature out of thin air.

 

So the trick to writing this way is to play with the mind. It knows something is there but it can't quite comprehend it and is engaged. You're pulling them along through this illusion and confusion up until the resolution when it all comes together and just blows the viewer away. How do you do that? There's no rulebook anywhere that will tell you (at least that I know of) because it requires a lot of various skills and planning with a little bit of luck. It's not a mystery as a mystery has structure.  But that's enough about this subject since most people reading this aren't interested in the writing aspect and play games for the sake of games. I'll make this in a way everyone can understand:

 

The plot of Rejuv was written in a way that it can't back out of anymore. Nobody is going to believe me now, but give it a few years. Rejuv is going to end and it will either end with a rather impressively written ending or be complete hot garbage. Regardless, it's certain to be something people remember. I mean if you're going to do something like that, it's better to do it for a fan-game over putting all of the risk in a game meant for the shelves. Personally, I'm more for down to earth type styles of writing, but I'm never going to say to not take chances or try things that can backfire. You don't grow simply by doing what you know works.

 

[Commander]

Dear mods,

 

Thank you for not locking this thread

 

Sincerely,

 

A man who needs to find a better hobby

 

Chapter 61 Hottie for a Hottie

 

Dear god how long has it been since I've done one of these. I'll be blunt in saying that I just didn't feel like updating the run. Seriously, this part of the game just sucks. No, I'm not talking about the Amber fight, I'm talking about this:

 

Spoiler

 

 

This reminds me a bit of a Kurt scenario. So for anyone who doesn't know, Kurt is a boss early on in Trails of the Sky SC. On nightmare mode, the literal strategy to beat him is "if he does xxx, reset the game." This was back when Falcom didn't really do a whole lot for balancing making the game absolutely brutal anything above normal. The games got easier beyond that one and honestly the series probably would have died if they stuck to it. So if you err on the too easy side, you'll lose less people the erring on the too hard. Just advice from someone who isn't out to play the hardest thing in the world (mostly do intense nowadays to keep people from bitching "oh you're so bad at this that's why you hate the game").

 

Is this fight beatable on intense. Yes, in fact it probably would have been rather easy if I ran more optimal stuff with EVs more suited to their stats and better moves and yada yada. Or just turn it into the underwater field. Let's just break this fight down though. So the weakest link on the team is Minor. Not really a bad mon but leagues below everything else. What is the second weakest? Typhlosion. I know you all are laughing at me as that thing can slaughter but if punch it in the face, it's actually rather weak even after all the boosts it's getting. Gigalith rarely will go down without a turn and that thing hurts, Clefable literally can shut down a mon costing 1,2, or even three mons, Jellicent will cause burns. Dragonite and Gyarados are a deadly duo that need shut down immediately or will cause serious damage, Silvally is a bitch due to its new Ground Typing, and Absol will likely take something damaged down with Sucker Punch. Zetta is the weaker one of the two which isn't saying much given he has a Dragonite.

 

It's also a double battle which means you have to strategize around it. The most important thing is being able to keep your side in control and thinking ahead. That's what makes doubles cool is the style you fight. And you're locked to half. And what if the other half doing? Using a bunch of moves that probably aren't very helpful. I get what Jan was doing and I think them for trying. But could you please for the love of god give Melia a better moveset. Why does Hydreigon have Heat Wave over Earth Power? Why does Togekiss know flamethrower? Why doesn't Snorlax have Crunch? Why does that Meganium only use Giga Drain when it isn't going to KO stuff and Reflect when I'm about to die? It might honestly be easier to win the battle with only my own 6 mons then with Melia's help.

 

Partner boss fights are just a battle you can't win. Florinia's section was such a hassle with so many issues, I had to completely modify her team so she wouldn't die by turn 5. I had to nerf Cain because I made him way too good. I've made my share of absolutely awful battles with Florinia being the queen. You really just suck it up and go back to the drawing board when it becomes an issue. I really hate this fight. I dreaded the game when I realized I had to do it. I spent three hours just trying again and again and really just hit the wall again and gave up. I'm done with it. You're done with me hearing it. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

So anyways lots of stuff happened and now the whole world is shut down due to COVID. I actually might of had it and with a bit of asthma problems it is an awful combo. Had to sacrifice some stuff and get off my ass into a healthier lifestyle. Also god bless Pepsid. Never would imagine that'd be the secret to getting better. Anyways, the world is a scary place and there's a 1,000 ways to die a day. There's a point where you just have to stop being afraid and focus on living your life instead. Good time to work on some things you've been putting off or pick up a hobby. Mostly just been working on my gaming backlog aka the nuzlockes of every mainline game. Finished ORAS and working on Yellow, but I decided maybe I should do another chapter. Why? Mostly because Redux is on hiatus another couple months waiting to see if any other surprises surface (procrastination ftw). Anyways back to my eternal suffering I never know when to quit.

 

Maybe I should cancel Redux and this run to speed up the release times

 

(Why is it that I'm always back in this room when someone dies? It's not even Velvet)

 

Now for a recap of everything that went down over the past year or so: We got stuck on an island which we'll call Hell. Hell is a place we ran around trying to save a statue from what we'll call the French. The French weren't to keenly of giving it up unless we handed what we'll call French Fries over. We told them we'd never surrender and began working on a counterattack. We try to go and collect a rock of magical power we'll call infinity stones from Iceland but Iceland decided to get up and move to Cuba. Traveling to Cuba was a pain as we got nowhere and only mocked at before getting the infinity stone from Iceland only to find out Greenland is causing problems. Nobody in hell like Greenland. But Greenland has the infinity stone we need to cross into the French border so we have to go there. We get trapped inside of Greenland and Greenland begins to crack. Thankfully we get saved by Alaska who we saved who had the infinity stone all along. All at the cost of traumatizing french fries.

 

Of course all is not simple as we need the golden board to attach the infinity stones to cross streams to reach the French. In order to do this, we had to sacrifice a waifu to the graveyard to summon hellfire. Hellfire unleashed to barrier protecting the golden board, but Nuuk cast a Change of Heart on Hellfire causing Greenland to be Reborn. But that's another game for another day. While this was going on, French Fries betrayed the motherland going into France pissing off Jimmy Hendrix and myself as we charge after her. We get pissed off even more as Iceland had an Fast Pass into France. France itself a woman who can't make decision. One moment its hot. Then its cold. Then its hot again. Then everything is fine and dandy when the French spit on me from their Berlin Wall. That is until Germany (with Japan and Italy) decided to break it down with their Big Bertha. We also let Madonna out of her cage, Iraq yeeting one of the Twin Towers out of existence but failing, and Iraq bombing Germany out of existence.

 

We finally meet up with French Fries whose plan was to give Potato Chips to the French which Hendrix believed it would fool them all. It didn't as not even the French would fall for the ole chip-a-roo. When this failed, Potato tried to save the statue from being a fume to the fire but Bonaparte and his trusty sidekick Birdo decided to throw the potato into the boiler. After a long battle with many thoughts of throwing French Fries into the boiler as well, we defeated the French. But the French, being the French, never surrender throwing the statue and the myself into the boiler. And I died. But Iraq made me better. The end.

 

Somewhere a history buff is cringing. I would blame it on a disease but this honestly is just the way I am.

(All are problems would've been solved if we shot Geara in the head. All of them)

(I'd say it was more spicy...to soon?)

(You were the only girl in this game that mattered)

(Honestly, I don't think she'd like you that much. You're kind of bossy, annoying, and suicidal. Nim's just crazy)

(I only just realized those are candles in the water. Those look really cool honestly)

 

I forgot to screencap: "For my father:"

(Jenner and fire really don't mix well...do they)

(Oh look self reflection. How rare from a character)

(Eh, I'm sure he's in a better place. A much better place than this. Might've done him a favor)

(I think it said Rest in Peace. RIP in pieces my dude and dudette)

(Feels like Jenner's been dead for 3 years tbh so...late to the party?)

(I mean I also try to deny your existence but the world disappoints)

(Oh boy this cliche again)

 

And now we have to go over the whole idea of parallel timelines. So I probably talked about time travel but let's just get into the discussion of when you can use it and how to not fuck it up.

 

1. The Paradoxical Loop (My Favorite): So this is an element of time travel where the events that happened only happened because someone time traveled into the past to make that happen. Think of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. So the characters only knew about certain scenarios because two of them went back in time to act them out so that everything plays out the same way. I like this one as even though it's a paradox in and of itself (they can't travel back in time unless they traveled back in time) but it makes for one singular story stream to follow only getting more details as the plot progresses.

 

2. Parallel Timelines: The easiest way to explain this is that for every action, there is a timeline that exists where a different action is taken. It's rather complex due to the nature of the idea but the simple version is to think of a stream that branches off based on a choice. The idea is that there are different consequences based on that choice and often can lead to some drastic scenarios. It could even be two entirely different games. But the idea is that character a could live and is a primary character in timeline a and in timeline b they immediately die.

 

3. The fluctuating timeline: Before I say anything, Chrono Trigger. The simplest way to explain this one is the idea of a river where some force (aka the protag) causes the riverpath to shift or completely change courses. Every action has some effect on the timeline. The grandfather clause and the butterfly effect take the most precedence here.

 

Now that we got that out of the way, there's a few rules on how to not fuck up time travel badly. Rule 1) Pick on of the three above AND stick with it. If you pick number 3, don't make it so that people from other timeline exist. They don't exist as that time doesn't exist. Rule 2) Keep an air of mystery about it. You'll want to have players wonder about certain elements to keep them engaged. Running around with Dinos is fun an all but something has to keep the suspense. Rule 3) Don't write a future of a prophecy that needs changed. Apocalyptic futures just almost never end well. And if you do that, don't make it the focal point of the entire plot. This is the number one way to screw up time travel. Rule 4) Don't be "intelligent". Time travel is dumb. Making it sound smart makes you sound dumb. Worry less about the explanation and more about the flow and elements impacted by it.

 

Is this a surefire way to use timetravel? Hell no. Can any of these rules be broken and it still be good? Yes. There are no rules in writing. Just guidelines. Anyone reading this probably already knows the elephant in the room but this is just one of the things foreshadowing stuff...I really dread and hope aren't true. Though I do hope my Madame X theory is correct. I know it's not but damn that'd be a great plot twist I made as an absolute joke at first. Anyways,

(Honestly, I'd say it's an improvement to the roster. Though I lost my rock, it was a valiant sacrifice)

(Part of me wonders if the protag stopped giving a shit after mom died. I mean at this point people are dropping dead left and right or outright disappearing possibly forever)

(Don't you mean my house. I like my house.)

(Can we please just not? Her existence just pisses me off. Literally there to solve everything that Melia can't solve. Are you two sure you aren't besties?)

(Fine, we'll go together only because that's a long ass walk.)

 

Can I just say, thank god you get teleported off that mountain. That is a pain to go up and down as you have to change the mountain weather. And it feels like 10 floors. 10 long floors. It's why I never wanted to walk down it for anything.

(Yes, yes I did save you.)

(Did...she actually acknowledge I'm part of the family. I guess being drowned by a whale changes you)

(Hmm...something definitely isn't right here. The blonde pic should be covered up by the pillar more)

 

Not sure if it's my game or not with the double Melia. Not game breaking but a little silly seeing...or horrifying since there are two of them

 

We're not posting anyone else's dialogue as they aren't important.

(Nice of plot convenience to be forced to talk to Cres Cent Machina) 

(If you teleported them to Saki's dream world, that'd honestly be kind of awesome. Wonder what it is like in her head. Has to be anything but normal)

(How does one teleport something of that mass over a long distance of space? I don't even think Mewtwo could do that.)

(By removing three people I like from the story, I can't really say that's something I'm all that happy about)

(I explained it in the summary. Her sacrifice will not be in vain...oh wait this was the timeline where it was in vain...no, this is the one where it wasn't. It's so confusing keeping track of these timelines)

(Well if you didn't run off, we would've told you 3 years ago)

(Bad things happened back then. Bad, bad things we don't talk about)

(Eh, she'll be fine. She's handled worse)

(Eh, she'll be fine. She's been through worse)

(Yeah. Finally you acknowledge running off on your own causes problems. Problems not even God could fix)

(Hooray! Finally I can sit and do nothing. Run over folks. Go home. We did it. Only took a century but...we're not even halfway done. Are we?)

(Oh great voodoo magic. The only voodoo stuff I like are the chips and those are so freaking delicious. They aren't good for me but that is a sacrifice I'm willing to make)

(Yeah, let's not worry about people when there's a terrorist organization with a leader with the god of death on her side)

(I feel like that's some advice a lot of people should take. Along with "People die when they are killed.")

(>Logic >This game. Pick one)

 

Don't you dare say anything Jan. You had a mother launch a child through the roof. And someone capable of turning into a Timburr. And a Roggenrola. And Melia exists.

(This girl. It's like she understands me.)

(The music better be )

(Personally I would've gone with nutjob)

(Also, I feel awkward standing in the middle here. I feel a bit attacked)

(She will not be given a space in my house. This is my house now, right?)

 

Okay random thing. It kind of frustrates me we just up and leave this idea behind entirely. It never really gets talked about or brought up. We're offered to live here but never really stated what we would've done...because the protag can't talk. Actually, I feel like it's more that the PC is just there as a fly on the wall more or less. If it ain't a Pokemon battle they're kind of worthless.

(I would've been shocked to see Cres Ex rave or even get drunk as hell. I'd pay money to see that)

(Clearly Venam will stay behind and be emotional support for...)

 

I didn't screencap but she doesn't. What? I have to cut something from the run because of how freaking long it takes for updates. Next thing you know, it'll be a year before the next one.

(And it only took 3 years to get you to fight me. At this rate I'd be an old man if I tried proposing to you before you'd say yes)

(Just because I'm slow doesn't mean I'm dumb. But uhhh...what main desk?)

(Party time!)

(Oh great! Now I have to hear more berating. Should I say "Yes, my lord" every time you give me "advice")

(I try. I really try, but somehow I end up back here every single time only to screw things up even more than a Madoka Magica episode)

(Have you met me? I die all the time in video games. I have 2 hours worth of me dying. I suck at games. Except puzzle games. Only thing I'm really good at)

(Spoiler alert: The game contradicts this later)

(You're right. Does it about 1000 times a night)

(I'll get back to this in a second. I really like this line)

(Don't have to tell me twice. We'll be raving until the sun goes down)

(That is a change of character. Nobody here tells me to be happy. They just be like "Go save the world")

(Well as they say "Misery loves company")

(I dunno. I'm pretty rich in this game due to my restrictions)

 

And since I haven't made a sexual innuendo this chapter:

(How about I shove my Ekan into your ladder)

Yes, I know this chapter is short and I will talk about that in a minute but I do want to talk about Crescent. I don't hate Crescent, but I can't say she's really likable. I've played through the game and I honestly just have to be blunt that she's the worst written character. Though I like Venam less that's more of a preference than more factual. The problem with Crescent isn't the plot because her backstory actually is rather interesting. The problem is she's just so stoic. The character basically just acts like God then contradicts herself acting human trying to be "nice" to the player. I'll do a character analysis of her in the next chapter and I think people will really, really like that one. But the problem with someone being stoic is that it also means they are boring by default. You have to get a bit creative on how you handle them with the biggest trick having a supporting character balance the flow making them more interesting. Opposites attract for a reason.

 

Now for why this chapter is so short. My computer is having a fit trying to update and I don't feel like going through another episode of losing all my progress. There was quite a bit of rants I don't feel like retyping. I have the rest of the chapter, along with the Amber fight done and hilarious enough I did have a bit of trouble with Intense which either means the fight got harder or I'm rusty as hell. Anyways, I'll try to put out a Ch 61.5 sometime this week hopefully on Monday. But for now, enjoy a short updating just to know I'm not dead.

[Aphelli]

I don't think I have commented on this thread before, as I'm more of a lurker, but I wanted to express my delight at seeing that your run, which I immensely enjoy, wasn't dead. 

I loved your recap, even though finding the exact correspondance took me a while. 

What's your Madame X theory again?

Spoiler

Is it that she's secretly Dr. Jenkel, or the other way around?

I look forward to your analysis about Crescent too. 

 

 

[Commander]

On 5/17/2020 at 4:03 PM, Mindlack said:

I don't think I have commented on this thread before, as I'm more of a lurker, but I wanted to express my delight at seeing that your run, which I immensely enjoy, wasn't dead. 

I loved your recap, even though finding the exact correspondance took me a while. 

What's your Madame X theory again?

  Reveal hidden contents

Is it that she's secretly Dr. Jenkel, or the other way around?

I look forward to your analysis about Crescent too. 

 

 

Oh there was a long joke I had planned where the big reveal was that Madame X's name spelled backwards looked like Xen Adam and that Sakibot was used during the one scene to explain the big plot twist as nobody would expect Adam. That had me have a "wait a moment" since there is something very fishy about another character in that same scene. One we haven't seen in a very, very long time. One that matches up almost too well. Sticking with Saki being Madame X since it isn't that much of a stretch.

 

The recap was mostly a joke as I figured most people would honestly know the game quite well by now and I didn't know how else to say "French Fries betrayed the motherland." Got a wee bit carried away.

 

------------------------------------------------------------

 

Chapter 61.5 An ACTual Ending

 

You know, I must be a mod's worst nightmare as every time I post, it always end up an arrogant pompous long essay that someone has to read. Or maybe they just know me and just ignore this stuff because who wants to read an essay about a game using tools that are the equivalence of video game ductape. The results are mixed but it still works. Well I haven't gotten a point ever since the time I talked about the one video that was an absolute ear...infection. Part of me wants to throw something in to test, but that's also the part that thought giving a trainer 26 mons was a good idea. Probably not a good idea to listen to it. Probably also thought that making this run was a good idea. Why do I ever listen to that part?

 

I thought of a new drinking game. Take a drink every time a subcaption isn't funny. Let me know how long it takes before you die.

 

(I wasn't sure how this party would turn out, but best girl is here so it's...okay.)

 

I know I don't like Venam but seriously? I didn't even have a screencap. I need to fire the guy in charge of these and replace him with someone more competent. This is like the 100th mistake he's made so far.

(Raise of hands on who wants to see me get jiggy with the captain here. Whiteheads unite...wait a minute)

(Who the heck are you people?)

(Seriously, I should remember who you guys are but can't for the life of me)

(What a baby. It took me nearly three years to get to this party. Was it worth it? Hell yeah!)

(I'd say so. But who the heck are you guys?)

 

So this reminds me a bit of two characters in the Trails series. No, don't go away here. Basically, they were two generic looking guys which one is a guy who has an unfortunate love life which his friend literally is just there for the ride and just gets a kick out of the misadventures. The reason they are so memorable is that there's often a quest or a few quests which the first guy professes his love and it ends horribly and not often in the way you'd expect. Point is that these guys were memorable. Points is that I for the life of me cannot remember if these guys were actually in Goldenleaf. I feel like they were in the PC but I don't remember. Kind of wish they were more reoccuring as a bicker couple's misadventures could be amusing. Even something as nonsensical as getting stuck in the past could be that little bit of humor people dig around towns to find. What I'm saying is that I think there's something to work with here that could be an amusing small detail. Small things like that are insignificant but get enough and they'll be magical. Kind of how Xenoblade works. If you haven't played the original, try the definitive edition. I'm sure Jan would approve of my shameless advertising.

 

I realized I'm going to be stuck working on Redux when I could be playing Xenoblade. Damn the temptation is strong. Why does this have to be the year of easily distracting video game? Reminds me of this comic where there's a character who is the personafication of games that easily distract the creator on why he's not getting more comic pages out. I'm not sure if it's still up but it was by the "It Sucks to Be Luigi" comics. Honestly, I'd be surprised people would be bored waiting for me to output another chapter every once in a while as I do give a number of things to look at.

(I need a trainer for this brain. Even now, it keeps going to the gutter)

(I wanna take you away. Let's escape into the music. DJ let it play.)

 

I am cultured in what many of you would call "Millennial Trash" and I'm proud of it. 

(What about the time they got cold feet with Angie?)

(Are you sure this isn't the training? I hear it takes a real man to hold down your alcohol. Da fuq do you mean there's no booze?)

(Honestly I feel better than ever. As if a heavy burden was lifted never to plague the world ever again. I'm taking a long, long break from doing that ever again)

(Alright, which one of y'all want to challenge him to a dance off?)

(Maybe we should've had you step on that switch 'cause clearly you don't have a soul)

(Well go take your doo doo somewhere else if you're gonna be like that)

(You know who you're dealing with, right? You absolutely know who you're dealing with. Back in my youth, I defeated god with just a Blastoise. Did I mention he had a shield that negated all damage?)

 

For some reason, I really want to nuzlocke Raptor. That might be a good side thing when I'm really bored.

(Oh no, not you. I already ranted about you. I don't think I have it in me for another)

(At first, I kind of hated you. But, you're alright in my book)

 

I don't think I have ever talked about it but I often prefer orchestral music in games over other stuff. Though I also really like a well done metal cord drop like "Those Who Fight Further." Found out about a series who explains music theory in games which is a good listen but I don't have time. I do know quite a bit about music but I'm no conductor...even if I look the part.

(I'd question if their boss would get mad, but given they all GTFO'd of Terajuma, I don't think they'll mind)

(You can stay, but on one condition:)

(Hey buddy ole pal. The stakes are high and the cards are hot. Let's have one more round before we all have to hit the road)

 

So another fun fact I think I've mentioned before. I had to learn a number of card games when I was little and often had to play them in band since being on a smartphone didn't exist back when I was in highschool. Nowadays, you see everyone playing games. We had to find other ways to entertain ourselves. It's been a while so I'd have to brush up on some but I've played Rummy, Spoons, Euchre, and another one made for big groups. Can't remember the name of it right now. I know I'm not that much older than you guys but it's really kind of scary how different socialization is nowadays compared to even a few years ago. Also scary how I first found out about Reborn in high school and now I'm a working class citizen and it still isn't even finished. What were we talking about again? Ah, that one game with Amber in it.

(I think it say back but honestly, I'd say remove "a while back")

 

So minor nitpick I learned in High School. If something is unneeded in a sentence, remove it. People make a bigger deal out of it more than they should as honestly, it helps sentences flow better and annoy that slight irritation of reading something pointless. Your mind often subconsciously does this all the time and I do it for this chapter as well because I don't edit. Easiest way to edit is to use the rule of 3: Write it, Read it, Speak it. Everything I talk about is based on that simple ideology. Those dialogue boxes are also terrible to work with since it's messy to read through. Imagine reading a passage but that passage has no details nor spaces between paragraphs. And the easier to see and understand version is in another room but you can't change anything in that room. Some stuff you can fix on the fly and others you can't. Story dialogue is one of those things.

(We'd throw you into a museum of modern art. Probably have more relevance there)

(You guys are about as helpful as the Kanto Police Department is at catching criminals)

(It's Rejuv. The only normal day we've had was a freezing cold prison cell on a tropical island)

(Speaking of things that don't make sense...)

(This is what happens when you play too much "Corpse Party")

(......By "throw" a party, do you mean you had one at your house or actually threw them off into the distance)

(Starting to think it was the second one.)

(And now she sounds like a broken record)

(You're starting to scare me)

(Jan, I don't need to play another horror game in my life. If she starts murdering people, I'm out)

(She's about as emotionally stable as this game's plot)

 

Jan, I appreciate all the work you put in, I don't think you're going to fully pull off whatever it is you're trying to do. Because of that, I'll always make fun of the games plotline. After everything presented in V12, I quite honestly have absolutely no idea how anyone can pull that off and not stumble and fall a bit if not a lot. If by some miracle it turns out to be absolutely amazing, not only will I admit that I was wrong going over a huge number of things I bashed on along with you being leagues above wherever I'll ever reach, but I'll make and create that abandoned Rejuv DX project. And I will keep my word on that.

 

The main reason I abandoned it as I knew Az would really be able to design crazy difficult fights and it felt redundant for two people to try and do the same thing. Other than a certain fight, the Az and Alex did a really good job. Well, I could say for a few fights, but really only that one I take huge issue (at least I can beat it on normal with much less issues...I guess that's improvement).

(Probably should do the same. There's a reason these chapters take forever)

(Why are you here? I literally saw you fly away in the "conclusion" scene)

(They can't be terrorists all the time)

 

I'm not really sure how I feel about Eli & Sharon being there which kind of ties in to a big issue with Rejuv. End of the day, Team Xen is a terrorist group and that often gets kind of ignored to the point they don't even feel like a threat if not aligned with you. Crazy enough, I don't think you fight a single Xen grunt in the main story up through V12. They are still there but they are no longer really the enemy. You can still be enemies and the enemies can be very sympathetic. That's honestly I feel what the entire trails series thrives on. I don't think the transition was done that well as it just kind of...happened while a whole bunch of other things are going on. Delightful things that we'll probably spend a couple years talking about. If this run goes on longer than 5 more years, I might croak by then. 

(Honestly, I want nothing to do with Xen after the emotional roller coaster they put me through)

 

And now we finally get a gym battle after all this bloody time.

(Also quite the ego. Is it really necessary to have your face on everything?)

(Really? We're gonna be doing that now. Really?)

 

I don't think Amber's dad really even gets any mention. I know WLL it plays quite the role but it kind of feels glazed over here. God I love Jenner in that. I miss that game already. Speaking of WLL, I find it a real tragedy this run has as many views as that page does. I'm mostly saying I feel like too many people are missing out as that really was a nice side story worth playing.

(I...don't think Focus Blast counts as "Awesome Coverage")

(Basically it's an OP flamethrower)

(We ain't cheapskates here. We fight them at their best and only their best)

(Anyone who does this deserves to be thrown into the pit of lava by Geara. Don't make Amber sad. Don't be that guy)

(.....Gee, I wonder where we experienced that field at. I don't know maybe 10 minutes ago)

(It also makes Flash Fire mons immune to rocks and more or less strong against them)

(Eruption damage really isn't that big of a deal. Good for chip damage but won't really change the field of play)

(Yeah...hazards being up would really help me in this battle)

(I needed your help in the last battle, not this. This is just late advice)

(Yeah...typically don't like changing fields unless I have to)

(We all know who exactly did this. Jan also seems a bit too self aware of the mechanic)

(You could say it really...dampened her party)

 

Let's talk about field changes, shall we? I have a love-hate relationship with that mechanic. I love the concept as that means you can turn the field around and make it so that you have a huge advantage. It's actually really well done in Reborn as there are consequences for using this mechanic in some battles. Reborn I'll admit has a lot of really cool gimmicks. But let's focus on Rejuv here. I'm very mixed on this as the game really promotes you to use field changing mechanics which if you don't, it almost feels like you're getting punished. Reason why the one fight I had so much difficulty is I didn't prep for field changing which that whip lash effect from Reborn really shows there. 

 

Every fight afterwards, I felt like there was way more freedom to design things around and prep for. I really felt post Erik is where the game really balances out better and is way more fun (I really do think Rejuv has a better lategame and Reborn has a better earlygame). 

(I do find it truly ironic Crawli is next to Eli & Sharon)

(what the heck is going on with the guy in the bottom left?)

(So...is this a family quarrel or simply a mother passing her responsibilities onto me?)

(Someone call 911 Shorty fire burnin' on the dance floor)

 

For the next few screencaps, we're gonna see how many songs with fire in them I know lyrics of off the top of my head

(I fell in to a burning ring of fire. Down, down, down and the flames went higher)

(You think by now, that I would've learned not to play with fire if I don't want to be burned. But I'm a pyromaniac)

(It's gettin' hot in here)

(Chestnuts roasting in an open fire)

(Like fire. Hellfire)

(Through the fire and the flame we carry on)

(Drop it like it's hot)

(This is why I'm hot. This is why I'm hot)

(al;asd;lfkjasdl;fkjasdflkj; I'm out of songs)

(Not hard to figure out what happened here)

(And that's normal mode completed)

 

Had to adjust the team slightly and way more attempts than should be needed but here's intense:

 

Spoiler

 

(To be fair normal was like a 1-0 and Intense was like a 1-12)

 

Better than Angie. I had so many video outtakes of that fight. So many.

(That's cause I'm the best)

(Please don't be a song dedicated to me. Too tired to react to that)

(...Not a song but close enough. So where's the melody badge?)

(Is it possible...)

(Hell yeah. Second best TM we got from a leader. Sorry but Shadow Ball is just better)

(Sorry, I'm just thinking about Sun Drop right now. So who's gonna drop it?)

 

Honestly, I didn't showcase much but the normal mode fight is really fun and way more interesting. Actually does a lot more surprising tactics than the typical intense mode's HO strat. We all know how I feel about that, but anyways it certainly felt harder than when I did it in V11 though I really, really am quite rusty so that could factor in as well.

(Aww...she's gonna miss us. Wonder how many meditation session it'll take to get over this)

 

So I picked both options because you can:

(If it means being rid of this island forever, I'm not sure I can keep that promise)

(I realized the next few leaders are doubles...maybe stopping and living here isn't so bad. Maybe Crescent was right)

 

Speaking of the devil:

(And here we have Cres Ex working her magic)

(Oh boy if I didn't have enough reasons to hate Crescent)

(To be fair, this kind of is your own fault for sending two people in there)

(And Nim is back. Why am I not happy about that?)

(I don't get it either but perhaps there's a logical explanation to it)

(Does Crescent have some manipulation powers or something. They never really explained it)

(You'll have to wait for about 6 or so chapters to get the context behind this)

(I know the entire plot and this scene still makes no sense to me)

(No offense, but that's a godawful name for a loner. Personally I would've went with Lonestar or Uno. You should never forget to call Uno)

(I miss when the plot was silly. Can we go back to that? No? Awww...)

(I'm really trying with these screencaps, but I just can't)

(And no, I didn't forget to screencap. They just don't tell us)

(Well let's see what Lorna actually means here)

 

A place of honor and victory. So fun fact, that's the feminine name for Lawrence which Loewe the Samurott is actually named after a character with that name. Coincidence, I think not. Crescent clearly named Nim after my starter. I really just try to avoid Crescent stuff as I know all that'll happen is I'll get peeved. But here's a good ole analysis of Cres Scent Machina:

 

Crescent is best described as "The Masquerading Goddess." She is quite the vague character and everything we really learn about her is through other characters. Melia is the one who gives us the most insight to who Crescent is and made her sound like a normal person as she likely is closer to that than one would think. One day she simply vanished with a goal to turn against the gods themselves. To do this, she had to put up a facade and become the Crescent we know today. She appears as an all powerful being which removes all obstacles out of the player's way which they cannot move themselves. Some are enemies while others are allies. Her goal is simple and linked to the player themselves. It's to stop the player from reaching an endpoint.

 

The rest of Crescent really is a mystery and we could all take guesses on who the woman behind the mask is. Is she the mom of the player? Is she actually a normal human who just knows her way around making it look like she has powers? Maybe she is a very caring person. All we can see is a stone cold overtaker interfering only when needed to. That's all I have on her which is actually the problem. Gods are boring by default. They are near invincible to the point you know they are going to win if they're on screen. There's two way to go about designing this: present there struggles or make their methods interesting.

 

I'll start with presentation. Which would you find more interesting to play out: some with quick reflexes killing three guys before they can even move or one guy walking up to one of the three men, shoving his forehead onto the pistol and tellilng him to shoot. After he gets shot in the head, he falls to the floor and waits about a minute to start laughing picking himself back up freaking the three guys out causing them to run away. I think Karen and Crescent are great physical demonstrations of it. Which one are you honestly more excited to see?

 

And now let's jump into the easier one to design: struggles. It ain't easy being a god. Things go wrong about every minute and sometimes there are things that make you powerless over. There's a lot to work with. Maybe it's having an exploitable weakness or despite being this powerful entity, it feel all for naught seeing as they are powerless to change anything. The key is defeat. Everyone has to experience defeat at some point and more importantly, it has to be satisfying. Crescent it never really felt like she was defeated and more shoved out of the way later on. Karen, oh boy Karen. That's a character who suffered consequences for what she did. That's a long winded story but it really ties things together.

 

Speaking of that I feel Karen is going to be one of the last but one of the most fun characters to analyze since there's just so much to theorize on her character based on her dialogue. I wish I had more for Crescent as I thought I would but I just don't. Sorry.

 

Also this sums up how I feel every time I complete a chapter:

 

Don't know when the next chapter will come but if I announce something, times it by 3. I mean it's totally Monday. But what really happened was I was on a roll with designing something and wanted to get that wrapped up which is why this is so late plus busy times at work. I imagine it's going to be a long while before the next one since I'm working on wrapping up a behemoth of a project. Maybe I'll take a break inbetween. I don't know.

[DerogatoryTrainer]

My theory is that Crescent is the Cresselia gijinka like Spacea and Timpea are of Palkia and Diagla.

Spoiler

And that the Puppet Master is a Darkrai.

Feels like it'd make their bullshit powers slightly less bullshit at least.

 

Which makes me wonder why the only human versions of legendaries are the Sinnoh ones?

What makes them different from Groudon and Kyogre?

 

Also a tip from someone else in the screenshot biz: You should put your updates in spoilers so my computer doesn't die trying to load all of them at once.

[Commander]

On 5/24/2020 at 10:52 AM, DerogatoryTrainer said:

Also a tip from someone else in the screenshot biz: You should put your updates in spoilers so my computer doesn't die trying to load all of them at once.

I probably should have done that a while back but the codes to put spoilers just does funky things last time I tried. Hopefully a new page will come up one of these posts fixing the problem.

 

As for the other thing, you're probably right but god I hope not. What'd happen if I caught and released it then?

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Oh god so much stuff has happened since I last updated the run. People be sick of the virus, protesting along with burning the world, and top that off with the absolute hellstorm that came about from a certain video game sequel. I'll start with the game. I had zero interesting in the last of us 2. I never was going to run out and buy the game and the first trailer really turned me off. It looked like a stealth game with a plot I had zero interest in. 7 years later I become interested in it because Sony decided to play politics and the sheer amount of backlash for the shitty things they've done. I hope to god this is a wake-up call to Sony that they can't just push people around and expect people to just take it. Probably won't but a man can dream. I can't really formulate an opinion on the game itself.

 

And now for some good news. So Hamilton came out on Disney Plus and I loved it. Not a fan at the start but by then end I'd easily watch it again. Favorite song from it was "Wait For It". Really recommend watching it if you have Disney Plus. Desolation V5 also came out recently which I'm playing. I'm going to write a full post when I get through the game but if you kind of at least want to know my impressions so far. The game is a little rough around the edges but overall a rather interesting experience. I have a couple pointers for some minor issues I had but I haven't really found that much harsh criticism. I don't think hitting the second gym is late enough to give a good opinion but it does swing on a more positive side.

 

Also been playing Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen which is a surprisingly fun Visual Novel/Strategy RPG hybrid. Not sure if I'll make a post on that one but yes, sometimes I choose to play video games over other stuff. I have at least 3 years worth of backlog. Anyways, let's get this...chapter on the road. I just remembered what it's about. Help me.

 

Chapter 62 We're Past that Point

 

My god, I started this run 3 years ago and I barely got anywhere. I mean it's not like I'm in a rush since the game still has a ways to go but it does feel like I could move a bit faster. It's probably because I'm bouncing around doing all kinds of stuff compared to what I used to. Redux has to get done, play through deso, work out, family bounding, I have a full time job, and sometimes I want to do other stuff besides work like play a video game or honestly talk with people. I've been able to do a lot more since I work from home right now but I imagine that'll come to a halt eventually. Even with the larger workload, I do feel a lot better. Sure I can't do as much as I could but I don't feel like I'm at a point where I can't do stuff which is honestly something I was afraid of. Now we can all suffer, while I suffer figuring out subcaptions for this forgotten history at one point was called a run.

 

Spoiler

(I really need this. I really, really need this for what's coming)

(I'm quite literally the only person who ever played this fan-game and spent two years on this damn island. I'm clearly not in a rush)

(If it's spend another 2 years here, I'll pass)

(I don't like where this is going. Being alone with a girl in a house...)

 

usually leads to me running out of money fast. We're unofficially siblings. Not like anything is gonna happen. How old is Amber again? I feel like it's 16. Seems to be a common number for character ages.

(If there's booze, I'm leaving. Your mother would burn me alive with that Talonflame)

(Technically, I'm the first friend she's had in years. Can't really blame her for being clingy.)

(...It'd be easier to remember if it didn't change each version)

(I'm sure if I wander around long enough I'll figure it out)

 

Only took me 10 minutes to figure it out

(Looks like it symbolizes my soul: empty with non matching furniture)

(Oh thank the high heavens it's not another Melia and Venam adventure. Just nice relaxing time)

(Not for probably another 3 years)

(Because the French have been fried)

(They pushed me into a volcano. Do my needs not matter?)

(...That might not be a good idea. Probably boring stuff like Presidential Tweets)

(Ew this isn't cartoons. Put on the cartoons)

(Even in my vidya gamez I cannot escape the pandemic)

(This has no correlation to the questionable Chinese restaurant in the sewers)

(Eh, never liked Gearen anyways. Too big and confusing)

(Wow, that was boring)

(As long as it can be made into clickbait, yes, yes it will)

(My god, what sorcery is this)

(Is it a brick wall...I miss them so much)

 

I also find the lack of fire puns disturbing

(If this is the "something cool", I'm leaving)

(So that's why I'm in a better mood. There's no Mary Sue draining all joy from my body)

(Nobody cares about the plot right now. Especially not I)

(Thank you for being able to do the one thing I never could)

 

Does bring me great joy to see Venam shoved out of a scene. Amber really is a mood

(A younger less wise me would make a joke here, but not today.)

(We really need Adam here. That way we could be a true Red, White, and Blue family)

 

I miss my rock. He was my rock.

(Eh, I'd give them a 7.8/10. Packing too much heat)

(You mean gym leaders actually hold multiple different months to challenge people of differ...)

(Or they're your mom's. Something tells me she doesn't but can't say no. Oh dear, this is an accident waiting to happen)

(It's Moltres. Please let it be Moltres)

(Well shit, Tesla is gonna burn me alive anyways)

(I mean if I take one of them, then nobody would realize she was missing one of her Pokemon. Problem solved)

(I have a feeling I know who has it but I like breathing so I'll keep my mouth shut)

(Oh look who it is. My favorite character in the world just couldn't keep away. My curse magnetic personality for troublemakers strikes yet again)

(...That's my sister. If she talks any more, you have my permission to clobber her)

(In a different universe, Amber is a main character who supports the hero on a perilous journey. Sadly, this is not that universe)

(I mean it's a piece of rock. Those things have the power to control animals so...can you blame them?)

(This is the first time she opened up to someone and you just want to take it away. Like how you took all my expectations of being engaged in the plot)

(Siri, play the sad inspirational music)

(Amber, I mean this with the bottom of my heart. If you want to do it, I will assist in disposing the body)

(Do it, Amber. Fight the plot. If anyone can beat it, it's you)

(......Oh shit, this might actually be happening)

(Whelp, now we're back on the crazy train)

(Maybe Crescent's suggestion isn't so bad. Where's the adoption papers? I wanna be part of this family)

(Sigh...hello misery, my old friend)

(We're doing this. We're really doing this again. We're really chasing after Melia again, aren't we?)

(Wouldn't it be smarter if I dunno went to the rangers and inquired if they have anything on Melia? As incompetent as they are, I'm sure they could at least locate a lost child. Not like Venam needs my help to talk to an old fart)

(The man crashed straight into an island. Not sure if he can see anything at all)

(Sigh...we're really doing this. Delightful)

 

And that's it. That's the end of Amber and the Player's story. I'll just spoil it in that Amber pretty much is demoted permanently to side character. I don't think that's a bad option but I'm going to be honest that it's a kick in the balls type thing. Amber barely is in the Amber segment and when she gets a bit of development time, screenhog Mecgee pops in to push the plot forward kind of forgetting this whole family idea. Feels less like we're concluding this arc and more like "gotta move on to the next thing" which is something that happens later on as well. I think a musical analogy might make more sense here. So think of a random couple of songs you've heard. Two of the most common ways to end a song is to either pander out slowly with a single note or with a powerful loud jab. What we see here is a crescendo up, but that's it. It just builds up and suddenly you're on the next song. That's how I feel about this stuff. 

 

Play around with too many loose strings and the whole thing will start spiraling at the seams. Think I have the saying right, but that's my honest opinion. 

(Seriously, why am I here? I mean don't we have cell phones or some way to contact. They implemented that in Gen V)

(This sounds like the start of a fanfiction. I'd rather deal with the Volta news than this)

(Can I go back to my house? I've ignored Melia for 3 years and 90% of the time she was just fine. I'm sure this is one of the 90%)

(I had a realization Gen 2 was the first time we had telephone communication. Geeze this long and no fan-game uses any of that tech)

(If zey zound like zis, hang up immediately)

(I'm saddened by the lack of facetime)

(...excuse me while I scream. Why is Amber the only one in this game with a goddamn brain)

 

So that caption I made earlier I actually forgot this happened.

(Maybe she's taking the term "Burn the witch" a bit too seriously)

(I mean that's the only thing that makes sense. A girl has to have her wood)

(I'm as serious as I can get right now. She went into a forest inside the Volcano probably to return to her people. We'll call them the Deusians)

(This is why Amber is best girl)

(Well either we're going through a long dungeon or an ancient demon is getting released. Giant doors never are a good sign)

(...It's a single teleporter away. I just walked a 5 mile hike today up a cliff no problem. You're telling me you can't even do that)

(Kids these days. Can't even walk half a mile without passing out)

(Who is this writer and what did they write? I have so many questions for them right now)

(Oh thank god I don't have to walk all the way up the bloody mountain again. It was painful enough the first 3 times)

 

I'm never going up the mountain again. I will choose the worst ending over having to do that again. Always.

(I'm pretty sure that's the sound of someone cracking my sanity)

(Gonna be real honest, how on earth can you tell? It looks locked to me)

(So color on a door means it's unlocked. Good to know. Well it's been like a year since I've seen it)

(Look down below. There's snow on the ground. It's freezing in here)

(And thus a new arc begins)

(It all started with a girl in the woods)

(Yes, Venam. Very observant of you. Now let me continue my story. She was confused, lost, but most importantly, sad)

(Trees can grow in mountains. Anyways, she knew not why she was sad)

(...But she knew she had to keep moving forward)

(Yes. Now let me narrate. It's the only thing keeping me sane. With her heart empty of sorrow, she walked further step-by-step)

(Check like 20 captions up. Until she saw a beautiful crystal in the heart of it)

(This was her ticket home, but she hesitated. Something was keeping her back)

(Suddenly, a jarring yet soothing voice called out to her. 'twas one she danced with time and time again)

(This startled the poor girl shocked at who she saw. Heartbreak was easy, but this was not something she was prepared for)

(The voice from before, as inconsiderate as it may be, demanded answers for why the girl had run away)

(She had spent so long searching from and even halted my vacation to make me look for the girl too)

(The girl explained that simply was doing what she had to do)

(She had to go back to where she belonged to carry out her mission. Go back to place where she belonged)

(The purple hair girl was frustrated. How could anyone leave me without saying good-bye? She lashed out of the girl in frustration. Just like every other friend she had, her closest one would simply abandon her when she got bored and have to move on. After all, who would want to be friends with her)

 

Well seems like I'm in a pickle. Might not be able to dig myself out of this hole. Whenever you're stuck in a hole, dig deeper until you die as I always say.

(The blonde girl finally snapped. Now more than ever she needed a friend)

(She may have no tears to hide but her world was empty. A friend and a father. Two things lost that could never be found again)

(She was frustrated as all anyone could think of was celebrating instead of weeping in her sorrow)

(She took a deep breath and smiled. It doesn't matter in the end. She knew this would get nowhere)

(More words would only make the parting harder. Something she already couldn't bear. It was time to go but this time, she'd at least say good-bye)

(It was time itself had froze. The corroded girl interrupted saying two words no demon would ever say) 

(And finally something that wasn't utter rubbish came from that punk's mouth)

(She fails and slips up even to the point of driving a certain hero mad, but her heart is in the right place)

(She'd be willing to change just so that she wouldn't lose another person. Perhaps she learned her city is a lonely without those who care for her are around)

(All the blonde girl could say in response is the purple haired girl's name. Perhaps having a heart-to-heart in the freezing cold was not the greatest of plans)

(Purple suggested the unthinkable in this day and age: working for her love)

(The blond girl teased saying she already earned enough by being the leader of the people which may or may not come with a salary. Seriously, do they let anyone be a gym leader?)

(She also loved purple just the way she is which I will never understand)

(But that's okay as love is like this plot: no matter how many times it angers, frustrates, and confuses you, it sticks around bringing you warmth and comfort.)

(And that warmth thawed the girl's frozen heart)

(And what worries and emptiness from before fled)

(Embraced by those who stand by her side now and forever)

 

Or until the game gives me an option to betray

(Purple was still saddened about losing her friend once more but this time accepted a farewell)

(The blond girl knew time was running out and it was time to say good-bye to this land)

(But for once, she would not do this alone.)

(With puzzled confusion, purple and the white haired man wondered why should they be wary of a mineral)  

(Little did they know that their brains were to lose comprehension for the events that shall unfold)

 

About halfway I started to hate doing that but as shown with Geara when I commit to something, I commit to it. Now to remind myself to never do that again. Considered stopping here but let's go on. Literally only did that to help the pain of losing Amber...pretty much for the rest of the game.

(This is not what it looks like. I can explain)

(Much to my dismay, I have to keep this thing alive so long as blondie is around)

(We were teleported by a magical crystal)

(According to the save screen, we were in the forest of time. Take a guess what happened)

(Well it's better than being stuck on bloody Terajuma)

(Curse you linear paths forcing me to follow orders)

(..........Oh god I'm stuck in Hoenn)

(I want to go back. The trumpets, they scare me)

(Oh look a gym. How convenient. Can I just get another badge to add to my count?)

 

I got a badge from a dead guy and a child of presumably god. I think we're past the point of badges making any sense.

(Yes, we're in good ole flat overworld era)

(It's amazing how she's saying that with an NPC standing 2 feet away from her)

(At this point, you could tell me there's another dimension where the world is destroyed and it wouldn't faze me)

(I literally saw a women wearing armor jump off a giant tower she threw me off of, inter dimensional monstrosities, people that can fly, and Texen. I'm past the point of disbelief) 

(Just do what I do and say heck with it and just go with it)

(Everything but a down to earth plot)

(That explains so much. No wonder you made poor decisions. The trumpets got to your head)

(My god, how are you still alive?)

(Honestly, people will probably just think you're crazy.)

(At least one of us is enjoying this)

(...So they're literally created something to make their problems our problems)

(Purple is the color of evil. Don't trust anyone with purple hair)

 

True fact. Name one purple haired character who is an upstanding citizen. I'll wait.

(Alright, hold the phone)

 

While the internet did exist, online shopping wasn't really a thing until 2010. So either we be living in 2060 or that woman is very confused right about now. If that's what I look like in 50 years, does that mean I'm immortal? These are the questions that need not be answered.

(I blend in with the crowd. It's almost as if I'm invisible)

(Is Melia about to shave Venam's head? This I gotta see)

(Oh good I get to explore...and hopefully challenge the gym)

(Take you're time. I gotta get me a gym badge)

(I just realized something very important)

(I forgot to get Vulpix in the mountain. I'm coming for you, baby!)

 

So I guess maybe I could throw in some interesting writing stuff when I don't have anything to say. I've talked about time travel and I really dislike it. I just don't have much to say on this chapter. But let me just tell you a bit of interesting things about how I write and I've debated getting back into it. It's probably easy to think this stuff is easy and you get it done whenever you want. Nothing ever gets done quickly. These chapters take like an hour or two and that's really fast. Of course, I don't really rush when writing it so it does take longer than it should. But back when I was really, really writing I'd say I spent 4 hours on a short day. And this is something I did daily. Writing days I usually spent a good 8-10 hours often but there were days I've spent 14 or even 20 hours straight to get longer chapters done. I did that for 4 years straight and then had to calm down a bit due to health. I knew it was unhealthy. My body cannot physically handle what it could even three years ago kind of insanity. And crazier is that I'm sure there are people who go days without sleeping to get stuff done.

 

The main reason things take so long to get released is because most people can't work like that. Hell, I can't work like that anymore. I think the 8 hours is easily plausible for me still, but not something most people could do without going crazy. Imagine typing 5 essays a day every single day. That's the best analogy of the experience I could give. Now you know when you give criticism to someone who is working on a massive project they might be peeved or annoyed by you. Now I'm going to bed. See you guys in a month